A new type of instability of spiral waves induced by resonance effects

Excited state of spiral waves in oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems caused by a pulse

Previous studies claim that the dynamic behaviors of spiral waves are uniquely determined by the nature of the medium, which can be determined by control parameters. In this article, the authors break from the previous view and present an alternate stable state of spiral waves, named the excited state. The authors find that two states of the spiral wave switch to each other after a one-off pulse is applied to the medium. The dynamic behaviors of the two states are quite different, specifically, the spiral tip trajectory of the original spiral, which is named the ground-state spiral as observed in the previous studies, is a point, while the spiral tip trajectory of the excited-state spiral is a circle. Moreover, the authors study the trajectories of the spiral tip of spiral waves in both states after the pulse is applied and find two types of trajectories, a spiral trajectory and a spiral-inward-petal trajectory. The frequency of the spiral wave in the excited state is less than that in the ground state. The findings enrich the dynamics of pattern formation.