IMA Special Event:

Symposium on Spatio-Temporal Reaction-Diffusion Phenomena

Abstract:

Far-from-equilibrium reaction-diffusion systems present a rich variety of non-linear dynamics and pattern formation not seen in systems close to thermodynamic equilibrium. Behavior includes multistability of steady states, transient or sustained oscillations, chaotic dynamics, and a variety of spatio-temporal behavior including fronts, spirals, and Turing patterns. Experimental realizations include the Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction and also various catalytic surface reactions. Contributions in the minisymposium will present a variety of techniques and challenges for the understanding of such far-from-equilibrium phenomena. Models range from micro-scale descriptions based on statistical mechanics and interacting-particle systems, to macro-scale descriptions through nonlinear ordinary and partial differential equations.