Cellular Automata Approach to Reaction-Diffusion Systems (original) (raw)

We propose a cellular automaton model for a simple reactiondiffusion system: a three-molecular autocatalytic scheme known as the Schlagl model. Cellular automata simulations show qualitative behavior in agreement with Schagl's phenomenological description: bistability and front propagation. Quantitatively, significant discrepancies are observed between the phenomenological predictions and the results of the simulations, which can be interpreted in terms of reactive recorrelations. These discrepancies are directly related to the ratio of reactive collisions versus elastic collisions and can be eliminated by efficient "stirring". Correspondingly we observe mesoscopic effects like the formation of unsteady domains which cannot be predicted by the phenomenological theory.