When an amphibious egg is fertilised, a wave of calcium ions travels around the egg to help prevent the entry of multiple sperm. This process can be described with a reaction-diffusion equation. Providing the nonlinear diffusion and nonlinear reaction terms are related in a certain way, the nonclassical symmetry method may be used to find a transformation that will linearise and separate (time and space) the reaction-diffusion equation. Analytic solutions are then constructed, and various types of phenomena can be observed.

This is joint work with Phil Broadbridge.