Abstract
Nonuniformities of properties, like activity and transport coefficients, are common to catalytic systems and were evident in studies of spatiotemporal patterns. Under such conditions it is usually difficult to conclusively differentiate between the effects of spontaneous symmetry breaking and those due to nonuniformity. We analyze the dynamics of one-dimensional systems with single-variable or two-variable kinetics and space-dependent properties and show that these systems may admit stable stationary fronts, oscillatory fronts, source points, and unidirectional pulses. Uniform systems, with similar properties, admit traveling front and pulse solutions. Patterns in nonuniform systems are quite similar to those in systems with a global interaction that induces symmetry breaking, and both can be classified by the sequence of phase plane spanned by the system. We also analyze the impact of global interaction that preserves the symmetry and show that it may destroy the inhomogeneity due to nonuniform properties. Uniform and globally interacting systems admit reflection symmetry, and patterns may appear as symmetric pairs. Although this property would be a most discriminatory test, certain difficulties may be encountered in its implementation in catalytic systems.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 15137-15144 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Journal of Physical Chemistry |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue number | 37 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 12 Sep 1996 |
| Externally published | Yes |