Is relaxation to equilibrium hindered by transient dissipative structures in closed systems?

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the formation of transient dissipative structures, like Turing patterns, can significantly slow down the relaxation process in closed chemical systems, revealing a stepwise relaxation mechanism.

Contribution

It demonstrates that transient pattern formation can hinder relaxation in closed systems, introducing a new understanding of the dynamics involved.

Findings

Relaxation is slowed when patterns form during the process.

Stepwise relaxation corresponds to residence at specific spatial patterns.

The phenomenon has potential biological relevance.

Abstract

Dissipative structures are generally observed when a system relaxes from a far from equilibrium state. To address the reverse question given by the title, we investigate the relaxation process in a closed chemical reaction-diffusion system which can potentially form Turing-like patterns during the transient. We find that when certain conditions are fulfilled the relaxation process is indeed drastically hindered, once the pattern is formed. This slowing-down is shown to be due to stepwise relaxation, where each plateau in the relaxation process corresponds to residence at a certain spatial pattern. Universality of the phenomena as well as their biological relevance is briefly discussed.