Mathematical Modeling and Analysis
Reaction-diffusion systems produce a variety of patterns such as spots, labyrinths, and rotating spirals. Circular spots may be stationary or unstable to oscillating motion. The oscillations are sometimes steady but may lead to collapsing or infinitely expanding spots. Using a singular perturbation technique we derive a set of ordinary differential equations for the dynamics of circular spots. These equations are considerably simpler to study than the underlying reaction-diffusion model and quantitatively reproduce the same dynamics.