# Pattern formation
## MicroSim spec
- **Recommended sim type:** reaction-[[Diffusion|diffusion]]
- **Microsimmability score:** 88/100
- **Layout:** drawing region (canvas) on top; control region (sliders/buttons) below.
### Parameters (tunable controls)
- `Feed rate`
- `Kill rate`
- `Diffusion ratio`
### What animates
Spots, stripes, and labyrinths self-organize across the field as the reaction rates change.
### Learning objective
Show how local rules spontaneously generate spatial patterns.
## Links (Wikipedia order)
<!-- injected from _registry/childlinks/Pattern_formation.json (2026-07-30T02:09:12Z) -->
`3D_modeling` · [[Adaptation]] · `Adolf_Zeising` · [[Agent-based_model]] · `Alan_Turing` · `Anatomy` · [[Ant_colony_optimization_algorithms]] · `Aristid_Lindenmayer` · [[Artificial_intelligence]] · [[Artificial_life]] · [[Attractor]] · `Autocatalysis` · [[Autopoiesis]] · `Belousov–Zhabotinsky_reaction` · `Benoit_Mandelbrot` · [[Bifurcation_theory]] · `Biology` · [[Bounded_rationality]] · `Briggs–Rauscher_reaction` · `Brusselator` · `C._H._Waddington` · `Camouflage` · `Canalisation_(genetics)` · `Cell_signaling` · [[Cellular_automaton]] · [[Centrality]] · `Cerebral_cortex` · [[Chaos_theory]] · `Chemical_oscillator` · `Christiane_Nüsslein-Volhard` · `Cis-regulatory_element` · [[Collective_action]] · [[Collective_behavior]] · [[Collective_consciousness]] · [[Collective_intelligence]] · [[Complex_adaptive_system]] · [[Complex_system]] · `Computational_model` · `Computer_simulation` · `Conus` · [[Conversation_theory]] · [[Convolution]] · [[Coupled_map_lattice]] · `Crystal` · [[Crystal_structure]] · [[Cybernetics]] · `D'Arcy_Wentworth_Thompson` · `DLX_gene_family` · `Dendrite` · `Dendrite_(crystal)` · `Developmental_biology` · [[Digital_image_processing]] · [[Dissipative_system]] · `Dominance_(genetics)` · `Drosophila_embryogenesis` · `Drosophila_melanogaster` · `Dual_inheritance_theory` · `Dune` · [[Dynamic_network_analysis]] · `Earth's_mantle` · `Edge_detection` · `Elastic_instability` · `Embryo` · [[Emergence]] · `Empedocles` · `Endless_Forms_Most_Beautiful_(book)` · `Engrailed_(gene)` · [[Entropy]] · `Epigenetics` · `Epistasis` · `Eric_F._Wieschaus` · `Ernst_Haeckel` · `Evo-devo_gene_toolkit` · [[Evolution]] · `Evolution_of_sexual_reproduction` · [[Evolutionary_computation]] · [[Evolutionary_developmental_biology]] · [[Evolutionary_game_theory]] · `Evolutionary_landscape` · [[Evolutionary_robotics]] · `Evolutionary_tinkering` · [[Evolvability]] · `Eyespot_(mimicry)` · [[Feedback]] · `Fibonacci` · [[Finite-state_machine]] · `Fir_wave` · `Fitness_landscape` · `Floral_symmetry` · [[Fluid_dynamics]] · `Foam` · [[Fractal]] · `Fracture` · `François_Jacob` · `Freezing` · `French_flag_model` · [[Game_theory]] · `Gene_regulatory_network` · [[Genetic_algorithm]] · `Genetic_architecture` · `Genetic_assimilation` · [[Genetic_programming]] · `Gene–environment_correlation` · `Gene–environment_interaction` · `Genomic_imprinting` · `Genotype–phenotype_distinction` · [[Geomorphology]] · [[Goal_orientation]] · [[Graph_theory]] · `Great_Red_Spot` · `Hedgehog_signaling_pathway` · [[Herd_mentality]] · `Heritability` · `Heterochrony` · `Heterotopy` · `Homeobox` · [[Homeostasis]] · `Homeotic_gene` · `Hox_gene` · [[Ilya_Prigogine]] · `Index_of_evolutionary_biology_articles` · [[Information_theory]] · `Jacques_Monod` · `Joseph_Plateau` · [[Jupiter]] · `Kármán_vortex_street` · `Lac_operon` · `Liber_Abaci` · `Ligand_(biochemistry)` · `List_of_cloud_types` · [[Logarithmic_spiral]] · `MClone` · [[Machine_learning]] · `Maternal_effect` · `Mathematics` · `Mathematics_and_art` · `Meander` · `Metamerism_(biology)` · `Michael_Levine_(biologist)` · `Michiel_Hazewinkel` · `Mimicry` · `Model_organism` · `Modularity_(biology)` · `Morphogen` · `Morphogenesis` · `Morphogenetic_field` · [[Multistability]] · `Natural_selection` · `Nature_versus_nurture` · `Neoteny` · [[Network_motif]] · [[Network_science]] · [[Neural_network_(machine_learning)]] · `Neutral_network_(evolution)` · `Niger` · [[Nonlinear_system]] · `Notch_signaling_pathway` · `On_Growth_and_Form` · [[Operationalization]] · `Operon` · [[Ordinary_differential_equation]] · `PAX6` · `Parastichy` · [[Partial_differential_equation]] · [[Particle_swarm_optimization]] · `Pattern_recognition_(psychology)` · `Patterned_vegetation` · `Patterns_in_nature` · `Pax_genes` · [[Percolation]] · `Percolation_theory` · [[Phase_space]] · [[Phase_transition]] · `Phenotype` · `Phenotypic_plasticity` · `Philip_Ball` · `Phyllotaxis` · [[Physics]] · `Plateau's_laws` · `Plato` · `Pleiotropy` · `Polyphenism` · [[Population_dynamics]] · `Precipitation_(chemistry)` · [[Prisoner's_dilemma]] · `Pythagoras` · `Quantitative_genetics` · [[Quasicrystal]] · [[Rational_choice_model]] · `Rayleigh–Bénard_convection` · `Reaction_norm` · [[Reaction–diffusion_system]] · `Receptor_(biochemistry)` · `Regulation_of_gene_expression` · `Richard_Lewontin` · [[Robustness_(computer_science)]] · `Robustness_(evolution)` · `Saturn's_hexagon` · [[Scalability]] · [[Scale-free_network]] · `Sean_B._Carroll` · [[Second-order_cybernetics]] · `Segmentation_(biology)` · [[Self-organization]] · [[Self-organized_criticality]] · [[Self-reference]] · [[Self-replication]] · [[Sensemaking]] · `Sequence_space_(evolution)` · `Sexual_selection` · `Shader` · [[Small-world_network]] · `Snowflake` · `Soap_bubble` · [[Social_dynamics]] · [[Social_network_analysis]] · [[Spatial_ecology]] · `Sphere_packing` · [[Swarm_behaviour]] · `Symmetry` · `Symmetry_in_biology` · [[Synchronization]] · [[System_dynamics]] · [[Systems_biology]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]] · [[Systems_thinking]] · [[Tessellation]] · `The_Chemical_Basis_of_Morphogenesis` · `Theory_of_computation` · `Thermal_runaway` · `Tiger_bush` · [[Time_series]] · `Transcription_factor` · `Transgressive_segregation` · [[Variety_(cybernetics)]] · [[Wave]] · `Widmanstätten_pattern` · `William_McGinnis` · `Wilson_Bentley`
> p5.js MicroSim stub · part of Systems Thinking · [Wikipedia source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_formation)
> Relation: subfield of systems thinking.
## Concept summary
Pattern formation is a systems-thinking concept describing how interacting parts produce overall behavior; this stub queues a small interactive model of it.
## Build checklist
- [ ] Claim it: set `status: in-progress` + `lease` + `leased_at`
- [ ] Write the child page explaining the concept (tie it back to systems thinking)
- [ ] Finalize parameter ranges and defaults
- [ ] Implement the p5.js sketch (drawing + control regions)
- [ ] Add caption + the learning objective on the page
- [ ] Set `status: done`
## p5.js sketch
```javascript
// MicroSim: Pattern formation
let controls = {};
function setup() {
// createCanvas(...); create sliders for the parameters above.
}
function draw() {
// background(...); read controls; render reaction-diffusion; respond live.
}
```
---
Back to Systems Thinking · Wikipedia: [Pattern formation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_formation)
---
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:START -->
## Semiotic profile
> *The semiotic universals this article invokes, machine-derived from the crossref — **unverified** (born so). Populated 2026-07-06 for the Systems room.*
**Universals (6):** 🟡 system (14) · 🟢 diffusion (10) · 🟡 science (5) · 🟢 emergence (2) · 🟡 structure (1) · 🟢 spiral (1)
**Enter by sign:** Systems Semiotic Gateway · Alphabetum · Icon Registry · ← Systems Portal
<!-- SEMIOTIC-PROFILE:END -->
## Wikipedia : Wikitube
**Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_formation) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Pattern_formation)
## Previous hub tags
Tree parents: [[Complex_system]] · [[Cybernetics]] · [[Emergence]] · [[Feedback]] · [[Self-organization]] · [[Systems_science]] · [[Systems_theory]].
Legacy hubs: none.
---
*Sources: 2 legacy notes. Minted wave 1, 2026-07-30 (v1.6 order).*