Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2009 ii Paper 3 13A Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The species is the activator, since increasing increases its own production ; is the inhibitor, since increasing reduces that production. The unique positive uniform steady state solves and , giving .
The reaction Jacobian matrix at this state isIts eigenvalues solve . Since , both have negative real part precisely for . This proves stability of the spatially uniform reaction kinetics.
A perturbation proportional to replaces by . Put . Its trace is in the kinetically stable range, and its determinant isA growing spatial mode exists exactly when this determinant is negative for some . Its minimum occurs at , which is positive only if , and the minimum is negative precisely if . Together these conditions reduce to the Turing threshold of the quadratic activator-inhibitor model,The unstable band isAt the Turing instability threshold the band shrinks to its double root, yielding . On a bounded spatial interval, an allowed wavenumber must additionally lie in the unstable band; the displayed parameter condition assumes the continuous spatial spectrum.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 iii Paper 67 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First find the positive spatially homogeneous equilibrium. Setting the reactions to zero gives and , and hence the unique positive equilibrium isThe zero pair is not an admissible positive state and is singular in the term. For homogeneous deviations, the reaction Jacobian matrix at this equilibrium isThus , , and its eigenvalues areFor , both real parts are negative: a real pair has positive product and negative sum, while a complex pair has real part . The reaction equilibrium is therefore asymptotically stable, with no growing oscillatory mode. This does not exclude damped oscillations. Indeed, for the eigenvalues are complex; for example, gives , a stable focus with oscillatory transients. Thus a literal exclusion of every oscillatory solution is false; the intended exclusion of sustained or growing oscillations is the meaningful statement.
One can strengthen this to exclude nonlinear periodic oscillations in the positive quadrant without relying only on the local linear stability analysis. For the reactions , , use the Dulac function . ThenWere there a periodic orbit wholly in the positive quadrant, the flux of through it would vanish, since this vector is tangent to the orbit; Green's theorem would equate that flux to a strictly negative interior integral. This contradiction proves there is no sustained positive periodic oscillation when , the positive-quadrant Dulac multiplier for quadratic activation argument. It leaves the damped transients entirely consistent with the conclusion.
Now introduce a perturbation in the quadratic activator-inhibitor model. The Fourier mode of squared wavenumber evolves underIts matrix trace and determinant areA Turing instability must start with reaction stability, requiring . Then for every , so a mode is unstable exactly when : its two real eigenvalues have opposite signs. This also proves the diffusion-driven onset is stationary rather than oscillatory.
The upward-opening quadratic has its minimum at . To have a negative value at a physically allowed positive squared wavenumber, one needsWriting , the second inequality is , with roots . The first inequality discards the lower branch, givingThese are the Turing threshold of the quadratic activator-inhibitor model conditions. Equivalently, in the plane the instability region lies strictly above and strictly to the left of , with . The boundary diverges as and approaches as .
Diffusion-driven instability above the quadratic-model threshold in the reaction-stable parameter strip
. Details. At equality, the determinant has a double root and one growth rate is zero, while the other remains negative. Substituting into its minimum location givesBeyond onset, the unstable band isThe stated parameter region assumes continuously available wavenumbers, as on an infinite domain. With specified finite-domain boundary conditions, an allowed nonzero spatial eigenmode must additionally lie in this band; homogeneous stability alone does not ensure that a finite box admits the critical wavelength.

