Penetration of Boundary Perturbations in Unstable Chemical Systems.
Abstract
The effects of boundary perturbations of chemical species is investigated in a linear analysis for systems of coupled chemical reactions, with diffusion, which have instabilities. At marginal stability of one of the harmonic modes of such a system the penetration depth of the chemical boundary perturbation coupled to that mode approaches infinity at resonance, that is at the frequency of boundary perturbation equal to the marginal oscillatory frequency of the mode. For the case of equal and diagonal diffusion coefficients for all chemical species the penetration of the perturbation is homogeneous at resonance; unattenuated inhomogeneous penetration occurs in association with symmetry breaking instabilities of the system. The propagation of an impulse boundary perturbation is derived. Some possible applications of the theory are suggested but not demonstrated: Analysis of chemical instabilities; analogies of electronic devices such as tuned amplifiers, transmitters and receivers (chemical radio); communication in aggregates of biological systems; and mechanism of pheromone emission and reception. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0728755
Entities
People
- John Ross
- Peter J. Ortoleva
Organizations
- Purdue University