Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ii Paper 2 13E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2011 ii Paper 3 13B i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 6C Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
With the travelling wave coordinate , the reaction-diffusion system becomesAt the advancing leading edge the healthy-tissue density is small. Put with . The linearization at givesso a nonoscillatory decaying front requires real positive roots,The pulled travelling front selects the Fisher-KPP minimum wave speed, and therefore
For the initial wound , two mirror-image fronts enter from its endpoints. The left front moves right from and the right front moves left from , each with speed approximately . A sequence of sketches would show the initial rectangular depression becoming two smooth monotone transition layers, the zero-density plateau shrinking, and the two layers meeting near before the profile relaxes to . Their meeting time isThere is an additional local relaxation time of order if “close to one” is assigned a fixed numerical tolerance, so the displayed estimate is the dominant healing time when is large compared with the front width .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 355 1 Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Write the reaction terms asA nonzero homogeneous equilibrium satisfies and , henceFor physically positive populations it exists exactly when
The reaction Jacobian matrix at this equilibrium isIts trace and determinant areThe equilibrium is therefore stable to spatially uniform perturbations when
For a spatial Fourier mode of wavenumber , put . The linearized reaction-diffusion system has matrixIts trace is smaller than , whileThe two-species diffusion-driven instability criterion says that this upward-opening quadratic becomes negative for some precisely whenCombining all conditions, a Turing instability may occur in the region
At onset the discriminant vanishes, and the double root isThe threshold relation givesso the critical wavenumber isIf , uniform stability requires whereas diffusion-driven instability requires . These inequalities are incompatible, so the Turing region vanishes.
Spatially homogeneous equilibrium 2026-10-03
A spatially homogeneous equilibrium of a reaction-diffusion system is a constant state satisfying . Since its spatial derivatives vanish, its stability to homogeneous perturbations is determined by the Jacobian matrix ; diffusion can additionally destabilize nonconstant modes.