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Forced vortex interaction and annihilation in an active medium

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Abstract

THE formation of spatiotemporal patterns by coupling between diffusion processes and local, nonlinear reaction kinetics has been observed in diverse systems. In one of the most familiar, the autocatalytic oxidative bromination of malonic acid (the Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction1), dynamical structures such as expanding target patterns and rotating spirals are observed. Most previous work on this system has been concerned with the autonomous dynamics of the travelling chemical waves, but more recently there has been increasing interest in the possibility of influencing the behaviour externally2,3. Several studies have considered the effect of electric fields on spatial patterns in the BZ system4–8. We have investigated previously6 the influence of a homogeneous electric field on spiral waves. The spiral cores are of particular interest because they represent 'silent' centres in regions of pronounced dynamical activity9. Here we show that interactions between spiral cores can be induced and controlled by moving spirals towards each other using an applied field. Under carefully controlled conditions we have been able to induce mutual annihilation and transient coupling of spiral cores. Calculations using a simple model are able to reproduce the qualitative features of the experimental results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Ernährungsphysiologie, Rheinlanddamm 201, D-4600, Dortmund, 1, Germany

    J. Schütze, O. Steinbock & S. C. Müller

Authors
  1. J. Schütze
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  2. O. Steinbock
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  3. S. C. Müller
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Schütze, J., Steinbock, O. & Müller, S. Forced vortex interaction and annihilation in an active medium. Nature 356, 45–47 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/356045a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/356045a0

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