Principal bifurcations and symmetries in the emergence of reaction-diffusion-advection patterns on finite domains.

Pattern formation mechanisms of a reaction-diffusion-advection system, with one diffusivity, differential advection, and (Robin) boundary conditions of Danckwerts type, are being studied. Pattern selection requires mapping the domains of coexistence and stability of propagating or stationary nonuniform solutions, which for the general case of far from instability onsets, is conducted using spatial dynamics and numerical continuations. The selection is determined by the boundary conditions which either preserve or destroy the translational symmetry of the model. Accordingly, we explain the criterion and the properties of stationary periodic states if the system is bounded and show that propagation of nonlinear waves (including solitary) against the advective flow corresponds to coexisting family that emerges nonlinearly from a distinct oscillatory Hopf instability. Consequently, the resulting pattern selection is qualitatively different from the symmetric finite wavenumber Turing or Hopf instabilities.