A chemical approach to designing Turing patterns in reaction-diffusion systems

Abstract

A systematic approach is suggested to design chemical systems capable of displaying stationary, symmetrybraking reaction diffusion patterns (Turing structures). The technique utilizes the fact that reversible complexation of an activator species to form an unreactive, immobile complex reduces the effective diffusion constant of the activator, thereby fecilitating the development of Turing patterns. The chlorine dioxide/iodine/malonic acid reaction is examined as an example, and it is suggested that a similar phenomenon may cccur in some biological pattern formation processes.