Wave propagation in a medium with disordered excitability

The effect of quenched disorder on the propagation of autowaves in excitable media is studied both experimentally and numerically in relation to the light-sensitive Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. The spatial disorder is introduced through a random distribution with two different levels of transmitta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 1998
Main Authors: Sendiña Nadal, Irene, Muñuzuri, A. P, Vives, Daniel, Pérez Muñuzuri, Vicente, Casademunt i Viader, Jaume, Ramírez Piscina, Laureano, Sancho, José M, Sagués i Mestre, Francesc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry, Physical and theoretical
Dinàmica de fluids
Fluid dynamics
Mecànica quàntica
Quantum mechanics
Química física
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Summary:The effect of quenched disorder on the propagation of autowaves in excitable media is studied both experimentally and numerically in relation to the light-sensitive Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. The spatial disorder is introduced through a random distribution with two different levels of transmittance. In one dimension the (time-averaged) wave speed is smaller than the corresponding to a homogeneous medium with the mean excitability. Contrarily, in two dimensions the velocity increases due to the roughening of the front. Results are interpreted using kinematic and scaling arguments. In particular, for d = 2 we verify a theoretical prediction of a power-law dependence for the relative change of the propagation speed on the disorder amplitude.
ISSN:0031-9007