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Updated: Mar 29, 2026

The Diffusion of Passive Tracers in Laminar Shear Flow
Published on: May 1, 2018
More than Skew: Asymmetric Wave Propagation in a Reaction-Diffusion-Convection System
Edward Flach1, John Norbury2, Santiago Schnell3
1Integrated Mathematical Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, USA.
Abstract:
Convection-induced instability in reaction-diffusion systems produces complicated patterns of oscillations behind propagating wavefronts. We transform the system twice: into lambda-omega form, then into polar variables. We find analytical estimates for the wavefront speed which we confirm numerically. Our previous work examined a simpler system [E. H. Flach, S. Schnell, and J. Norbury, Phys. Rev. E 76, 036216 (2007)]; the onset of instability is qualitatively different in numerical solutions of this system. We modify our estimates and connect the two different behaviours. Our estimate explains how the Turing instability fits with pattern found in reaction-diffusion-convection systems. Our results can have important applications to the pattern formation analysis of biological systems.
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