Control of spiral breakup by an alternating advective field

Suppression of spirals and turbulence in inhomogeneous excitable media

Suppression of spiral and turbulence in inhomogeneous media due to local heterogeneity with higher excitability is investigated numerically. When the inhomogeneity is small, control tactics by boundary periodic forcing (BPF) is effective against the existing spiral and turbulence. When the inhomogeneity of excitability is large, a rotating electric field (REF) is utilized to "smooth" regional heterogeneity based on driven synchronization. Consequently, a control approach combining BPF with REF is proposed to suppress the spiral and turbulence. The underlying mechanism of successful suppression is discussed in terms of dispersion relation.

Stabilization of multiarmed spiral waves by circularly polarized electric fields

The influence of circularly polarized electric fields (CPEFs) on the stability of multiarmed spiral waves is investigated. It is shown that CPEFs can change the period of the multiarmed spirals. The average period is an important quantity of multiarmed spiral and it must be larger than a threshold for stable multiarmed spiral. After a counter-rotating CPEF with suitable amplitude and period is applied, the average period of the multiarmed spiral may increase, which stabilizes the multiarmed spiral.

Influences of periodic mechanical deformation on spiral breakup in excitable media

Influences of periodic mechanical deformation (PMD) on spiral breakup that results from Doppler instability in excitable media are investigated. We present a new effect: a high degree of homogeneous PMD is favored to prevent the low-excitability-induced breakup of spiral waves. The frequency and amplitude of PMD are also significant for achieving this purpose. The underlying mechanism of successful control is also discussed, which is believed to be related to the increase of the minimum temporal period of the meandering spiral when the suitable PMD is applied.

Electric-field-induced wave groupings of spiral waves with oscillatory dispersion relation

The dynamic behavior of spiral-shaped excitation patterns with oscillatory dispersion is investigated under the influence of externally applied direct current or alternating current. For these two types of electric field, wave-grouping phenomena are generally observed. For the direct current field, the spiral wave drifts approximately along a straight line and wave groupings appear in certain ranges of spatial polar angles when the strength of the external field is larger than a threshold. In terms of the Doppler effect induced by the drift of the spiral tip and the oscillatory dispersion, we propose a theory model to predict the spatial distribution of wave grouping and the critical strength of the current. In contrast, for the alternating current field, the spiral wave may stay stationary and wave grouping may appear in the whole space with a different manner. This finding indicates that movement of the spiral tip is not necessary for the appearance of wave grouping.

Control of scroll wave turbulence in a three-dimensional reaction-diffusion system with gradient

In this paper, we summarize our recent experimental and theoretical works on observation and control of scroll wave (SW) turbulence. The experiments were conducted in a three-dimensional Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction-diffusion system with chemical concentration gradients in one dimension. A spatially homogeneous external forcing was used in the experiments as a control; it was realized by illuminating white light on the light sensitive reaction medium. We observed that, in the oscillatory regime of the system, SW can appear automatically in the gradient system, which will be led to spatiotemporal chaos under certain conditions. A suitable periodic forcing may stabilize inherent turbulence of SW. The mechanism of the transition to SW turbulence is due to the phase twist of SW in the presence of chemical gradients, while modulating the phase twist with a proper periodic forcing can delay this transition. Using the FitzHugh-Nagumo model with an external periodic forcing, we confirmed the control mechanism with numerical simulation. Moreover, we also show in the simulation that adding temporal external noise to the system may have the same control effect. During this process, we observed a new state called "intermittent turbulence," which may undergo a transition into a new type of SW collapse when the noise intensity is further increased. The intermittent state and the collapse could be explained by a random process.

Control of spiral turbulence by periodic forcing in a reaction-diffusion system with gradients

We report an experimental result on successfully controlling spiral turbulence in a reaction-diffusion system. The control is realized by periodic forcing in a three-dimensional Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction-diffusion system, which has chemical concentration gradients in the third dimension. We observe that, in the oscillatory regime of the system, a suitable periodic forcing may stabilize scroll waves (SWs), which otherwise undergo a transition to spiral turbulence. Relating the spiral phase shift due to gradients and the forcing frequency, the mechanism of the control can be well understood by modulating the phase twist of SWs. We use the FitzHugh-Nagumo model to demonstrate this mechanism.