Thermodynamic Stability and Spatio-Temporal Structures in Chemical Systems

Abstract

The extension of the local formulation of thermodynamics to include a theory of stability and of fluctuations is reviewed. It is shown that purely dissipative systems such as systems undergoing chemical reactions and transport processes may exhibit instabilities of their steady state solutions provided they are maintained far from equilibrium. The subsequent evolution to a dissipative structure is studied for a simple model system. The biological implications of the results are discussed with relation to 1. the possibility of existence of localized dissipative structures as a stabilizing mechanism and 2. concentration waves as a plausible mechanism for propagation and transmission of information in the form of chemical signals being of great importance during the process of growth and development of higher organisms.