On the dynamics of a discrete reaction‐diffusion system

We investigate various aspects of the dynamics of a discrete reaction‐diffusion system. First, we examine the effect of the boundary conditions on the spatially uniform fixed point at locations far from the boundaries by using an asymptotic expansion. We show that, except for a few computational cells adjacent to the boundary, the fixed point practically coincides with the one calculated by using reflective boundary conditions (equivalent to an infinite domain). Next, we introduce a classification of the fixed points based on the wavelength in the infinite‐medium approximation of the system. We use the symbolic manipulator MACSYMA to analytically calculate the amplitude of several such classes of fixed points and we generate bifurcation diagrams for their members. Also, we consider two special classes of periodic solutions; we calculate their amplitude analytically in the infinite‐medium approximation, and generate bifurcation diagrams that shed new light on some previous confusing results. Finally, we present an analysis of fictitious periodic solutions that have been previously reported and incorrectly interpreted.