A Nonlocal Contour Dynamics Model for Chemical Front Motion

Abstract

Pattern formation exhibited by a two-dimensional reaction-diffusion system in the fast inhibitor limit is considered from the point of view of interface motion. A dissipative nonlocal equation of motion for the boundary between high and low concentrations of the slow species is derived heuristically. Under these dynamics, a compact domain of high concentration may develop into a space-filling labyrinthine structure in which nearby fronts repel. Similar patterns have been observed recently by Lee, McCormick, Ouyang, and Swinney in a reacting chemical system.