Abstract
The preceding chapters have dealt with the spatiotemporal behavior of spatially continuous systems. We now turn our attention to the dynamical behavior and stability properties of spatially discrete systems. A wide variety of phenomena in chemistry, biology, physics, and other fields involve the coupling between nonlinear, discrete units. Examples include arrays of Josephson junctions, chains of coupled diode resonators, coupled chemical or biochemical reactors, myelinated nerve fibers, neuronal networks, and patchy ecosystems. Such networks of coupled nonlinear units often combine dynamical and structural complexity [422]. Cells in living tissues, for example, are arranged in a variety of geometries. One-dimensional rings of cells were already considered by Turing [440]. Other types of lattices, such as open-ended linear arrays, tubes, rectangular and hexagonal arrays, and irregular arrangements in two or three dimensions are also found, see for example [5]. Cells interact with adjacent cells in various distinct ways. For example, signaling between cells may occur via diffusion through gap junctions [352, 230] or by membrane-bound proteins, juxtacrine signaling [339, 340, 471].
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Méndez, V., Fedotov, S., Horsthemke, W. (2010). Pattern Formation in Spatially Discrete Systems. In: Reaction–Transport Systems. Springer Series in Synergetics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11443-4_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11443-4_13
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