Dynamics of self-replicating patterns in reaction diffusion systems

Abstract

Recently solutions to a simple reaction diffusion system have been discovered in which localized structures (spots) make copies of themselves. In this Letter we analyze the one-dimensional analog of this process in which replication occurs until the domain is filled with a periodic array of spots. We provide a heuristic explanation of why this replication process should occur in a broad class of systems. Time dependent solutions are developed for model systems and their analytic structures investigated.