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Science 9 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5118, pp. 192 - 194
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5118.192
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Articles

Pattern Formation by Interacting Chemical Fronts

Kyoung J. Lee 1, W. D. McCormick 1, Qi Ouyang 1, and Harry L. Swinney 1

1 Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and the Department of Physics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712

Experiments on a bistable chemical reaction in a continuously fed thin gel layer reveal a new type of spatiotemporal pattern, one in which fronts propagate at a constant speed until they reach a critical separation (typically 0.4 millimeter) and stop. The resulting asymptotic state is a highly irregular stationary pattern that contrasts with the regular patterns such as hexagons, squares, and stripes that have been observed in many nonequilibrium systems. The observed patterns are initiated by a finite amplitude perturbation rather than through spontaneous symmetry breaking.

Submitted on March 31, 1993
Accepted on May 13, 1993


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)