At a positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium point, and . Hence . The reaction Jacobian matrix there is
The two-dimensional Routh-Hurwitz stability criterion gives strict linear asymptotic stability for , and instability for .
For a spatial mode with , the reaction-diffusion linearization is . When , its trace is negative for every , while
A growing mode exists precisely when this quadratic is negative at some . Its minimum must occur at positive , and must be strictly negative, giving
With , the latter inequality becomes . Selecting the root compatible with yields the Turing instability threshold
The unstable band is
On a bounded domain a boundary condition must permit a mode in this band. Equality at the threshold gives a neutral mode, not positive growth.
At , the homogeneous linearization has purely imaginary eigenvalues, so it is not strictly linearly asymptotically stable. If “stable” is read as nonlinear stability, the boundary deserves attention. Put , , and , . The exact equations give , , where ,
Expanding through cubic order, cancels the quadratic displacement. The correction from the quadratic change in also integrates to zero, because it is proportional to . Since , the Poincaré return map is
This cubic return-map stability of a weak focus shows that is a weak attracting focus. The strict linear range used in the Turing instability calculation is ; the positive homogeneous equilibrium is also nonlinearly asymptotically stable at the boundary . For that boundary, for every nonzero spatial mode. The same strict Turing instability threshold and unstable band therefore also apply there, with the homogeneous mode understood through nonlinear stability.
A positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium satisfies and , giving
It exists iff . The reaction Jacobian matrix is
Thus linear stability analysis gives strict homogeneous stability precisely when
The boundaries are not included: at the linearization has purely imaginary exponents, and at the positive equilibrium ceases to exist.
For a mode , put . The perturbation matrix is . In the homogeneously stable region its trace is still negative, so a growing mode exists iff its determinant is negative:
This upward quadratic is negative for some precisely when
Such a Turing instability region is nonempty iff . The unstable band is
For a finite domain only the admissible boundary-condition wavenumbers in this band grow. The region shown below describes a continuous wavenumber spectrum.
Figure 1.
Homogeneous stability and diffusion-driven instability for d=4
.
At onset the minimum of is zero and . On the threshold , substitution gives . Hence
This last expression is the threshold wavenumber; away from onset the fastest-growing mode need not coincide with the minimum of the determinant.
The term makes locally autocatalytic, while increasing suppresses this production. Thus is the activator and is the inhibitor.
At a positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium,
Hence and , giving
The reaction Jacobian matrix there is
Because , the trace-determinant stability criterion shows that the spatially uniform reaction kinetics are stable exactly when
For a perturbation proportional to , put . Its growth rates are the eigenvalues of
The trace is in the reaction-stable regime, while the determinant is
A Turing instability occurs exactly when this upward-opening quadratic is negative for some . By the two-species diffusion-driven instability criterion, this requires
Together these reduce to
Thus the unstable region in the -plane lies below the straight line and to the left of .
Inside this region, the unstable squared-wavenumber band is
At the bifurcation boundary the two roots coincide, so
Substituting yields
At a positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium,
so
The Jacobian matrix of the reaction terms there is
The linear stability analysis of a two-dimensional system requires negative trace and positive determinant. Since , the homogeneous equilibrium is stable exactly when
For a spatial Fourier mode proportional to , put . The linearized matrix is
Its trace is still negative when , while
A Turing instability occurs for some exactly when this quadratic has a negative minimum. This requires
Writing , the second inequality reduces to . Hence, for continuously available wave numbers, the condition is
On a bounded spatial domain, one additionally requires an allowed wave number for which .
If , the condition would require
But homogeneous stability requires . These inequalities are incompatible, so equal diffusivities cannot produce a Turing instability.
Put . At the threshold of a Turing instability, the maximum of
touches zero. Hence
The second equation gives . Substitution in the first gives
Therefore
and
Write the reaction terms as
A nonzero homogeneous equilibrium satisfies and , hence
For physically positive populations it exists exactly when
The reaction Jacobian matrix at this equilibrium is
Its trace and determinant are
The equilibrium is therefore stable to spatially uniform perturbations when
For a spatial Fourier mode of wavenumber , put . The linearized reaction-diffusion system has matrix
Its trace is smaller than , while
The two-species diffusion-driven instability criterion says that this upward-opening quadratic becomes negative for some precisely when
Combining all conditions, a Turing instability may occur in the region
At onset the discriminant vanishes, and the double root is
The threshold relation gives
so the critical wavenumber is
If , uniform stability requires whereas diffusion-driven instability requires . These inequalities are incompatible, so the Turing region vanishes.
If , both species have the same diffusion coefficient. For a perturbation proportional to , diffusion replaces by , shifting both reaction eigenvalues to the left by . Since the homogeneous equilibrium is already stable, every spatial mode remains stable.
For general , put . The mode matrix is
Its trace is
while its determinant is
With negative trace, instability occurs exactly when for some . The two-species diffusion-driven instability criterion says that this upward-opening quadratic has a negative minimum precisely when
Equivalently, the condition is
This is the Turing instability region.
Turing threshold of the Brusselator Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
When and have diffusivities and , respectively, and the homogeneous Brusselator equilibrium is stable, a Turing instability occurs precisely when
At onset,