Spiral wave drift induced by stimulating wave trains

We investigate the drift of a spiral wave core in a homogeneous excitable medium under the influence of a periodic stimulation by wave trains close to the core. Two important results were found. First, as opposed to existing theories of spiral wave drift, we observe drift induced by wave trains with periods larger than the period of the freely rotating spiral wave. Second, when investigating the drift of meandering spirals we found that the property of meandering of spirals is not robust against periodic stimulations. Simple phenomenological arguments are provided to explain these observations. (c) 2001 American Institute of Physics.     

Motion of spiral tip driven by local forcing in excitable media

We study the motion of a spiral wave controlled by a local periodic forcing imposed on a region around the spiral tip in an excitable medium. Three types of trajectories of spiral tip are observed： the epicycloid-like meandering, the resonant drift, and the hypocycloid-like meandering. The frequency of the spiral is sensitive to the local periodic forcing. The dependency of spiral frequency on the amplitude and size of local periodic forcing are presented. In addition, we show how the drift speed and direction are adjusted by the amplitude and phase of local periodic forcing, which is consistent with a theoretical analysis based on the weak deformation approximation.     

External forcing of spiral waves

The effect of an external rhythm on rotating spiral waves in excitable media is investigated. Parameters of the unperturbed medium were chosen, such that the organizing spiral tip describes meandering (hypocyclic) trajectories, which are the most general shape for the experimentally observed systems. Periodical modulation of excitability in a model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction forces meandering spiral tips to describe trajectories that are not found at corresponding stationary conditions. For different modulation periods, two types of resonance drift, phase-locked tip motion, a spectrum of hypocyclic trajectories, and complex multifrequency patterns were computed. The computational results are complemented by experimental data obtained for periodically changing illumination of the photosensitive BZ reaction. The observed drastic deformation of the tip trajectory is considered as an efficient means to study and to control wave processes in excitable media.     

Size transition of spiral waves using the pulse array method

The domain size of spiral waves is an important issue in studies of two-dimensional (2D) spatiotemporal patterns. In this work, we use the 2D complex Ginzburg--Landau equation (CGLE) as our model and find that an initially big spiral can successfully transfer to several small spirals by applying a pulse array method. The impacts of several important factors, such as array density, controlling intensity and pulsing time, are investigated. This control approach may be useful for the control of 2D spatiotemporal patterns and has potential applications in the control of some realistic systems, such as meteorological and cardiac systems.     

The inverse excitation-induced abnormal spiral wave

The effects of a local constant forcing on spiral waves in two-dimensional excitable media described by Bär model are investigated. A constant external forcing is imposed on the core of spiral wave, leading to parameter variability of a medium. It is found that the forcing can significantly alter the shape and rotation period of spiral wave when the values of related parameters are properly chosen. The change of wave structure is attributed to the transition from normal excitation to inverse excitation in the forced medium. An abnormal spiral wave with a very thick spiral arm has been observed. The physical mechanism underlying these phenomena is theoretically analyzed.     

Evolution of Spiral Waves under Modulated Electric Fields

Spirals generated from the excitable media within the Barkley model is investigated under the gradient electric fields by a numerical simulation. The spiral drift and spiral break up are observed when the amplitude of the electric fields is modulated by a constant signal or a chaotic signal. It is also verified that, even in the presence of the white noise, the whole system can reach homogeneous states after the spiral breakup, by using an adaptive strategy.     

Understanding the patterns in the BZ reagent

Conclusion It has been pretty well established that the PC system examined in this talk is a realistic model for the spatially distributed BZ reagent under commonly occurring parameter conditions. The analysis of the system is straightforward and provides a clear picture of the mechanism behind the appearance of fronts, trains, solitary pulses, and target patterns, and behind the generation of spirals, under those conditions. In fact, the PC model has been remarkable successful in reflecting observed phenomena (see a discussion of this point in Ref. 34). Spiral-like structures in 3-space have been called scrolls by A. Winfree; their generation can also be easily understood along these same lines, as resulting from local disturbances of plane solitary waves propagating through 3-space. Fully developed spirals can likely be understood in this same PC context as solutions of the free boundary problem presented in Section 7; more mathematical and numerical work should be done on that problem.Very possibly other parameter conditions exist for which similar spatial patterns can be seen in the BZ reagent, but for which the PC framework is not appropriate; and very likely other excitable biological or chemical media, supporting such patterns, may require other models for their understanding. Nevertheless, it appears likely that models having many of the properties of the one studied here will play a significant role in the unraveling of these more complex systems.     

极化电场对可激发介质中螺旋波的控制

螺旋波在不同的物理、化学和生物系统中普遍存在.周期外场,比如极化电场,尤其是具有旋转对称性的圆极化电场可对螺旋波动力学产生重要影响.本文综述了极化电场对可激发介质中螺旋波的控制,包括共振漂移、同步、手征对称性破缺、多臂螺旋波的稳定、次激发介质中的螺旋波、三维回卷波湍流态的控制、心脏组织中螺旋波的去钉扎、心脏组织中螺旋波湍流态的控制等.     

Multi-armed spirals and multi-pairs antispirals in spatial rock–paper–scissors games

We study the formation of multi-armed spirals and multi-pairs antispirals in spatial rock–paper–scissors games with mobile individuals. We discover a set of seed distributions of species, which is able to produce multi-armed spirals and multi-pairs antispirals with a finite number of arms and pairs based on stochastic processes. The joint spiral waves are also predicted by a theoretical model based on partial differential equations associated with specific initial conditions. The spatial entropy of patterns is introduced to differentiate the multi-armed spirals and multi-pairs antispirals. For the given mobility, the spatial entropy of multi-armed spirals is higher than that of single armed spirals. The stability of the waves is explored with respect to individual mobility. Particularly, we find that both two armed spirals and one pair antispirals transform to the single armed spirals. Furthermore, multi-armed spirals and multi-pairs antispirals are relatively stable for intermediate mobility. The joint spirals with lower numbers of arms and pairs are relatively more stable than those with higher numbers of arms and pairs. In addition, comparing to large amount of previous work, we employ the no flux boundary conditions which enables quantitative studies of pattern formation and stability in the system of stochastic interactions in the absence of excitable media.     

Wave propagation in an excitable medium with a negatively sloped restitution curve

Recent experimental studies show that the restitution curve of cardiac tissue can have a negative slope. We study how the negative slope of the restitution curve can influence basic processes in excitable media, such as periodic forcing of an excitable cell, circulation of a pulse in a ring, and spiral wave rotation in two dimensions. We show that negatively sloped restitution curve can result in instabilities if the slope of the restitution curve is steeper than -1 and report different manifestations of this instability. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Emergence and transitions of dynamic patterns of thickness oscillation of the plasmodium of the true slime mold Physarum polycephalum

The emergence and transitions of various spatiotemporal patterns of thickness oscillation were studied in the freshly isolated protoplasm of the Physarum plasmodium. New patterns, such as standing waves, and chaotic and rotating spirals, developed successively before the well-documented synchronous pattern appeared. There was also a spontaneous opposite transition from synchrony to chaotic and rotating spirals. Rotating spiral waves were observed in the large migrating plasmodium, where the vein structures were being destroyed. Thus, the Physarum plasmodium exhibits versatile patterns, which are generally expected in coupled oscillator systems. This paper discusses the physiological roles of spatiotemporal patterns, comparing them with other biological systems.     

Geometric diagnostics of complex patterns: spiral defect chaos

Motivated by the observation of spiral patterns in a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological systems, we present an automated approach that aims at characterizing quantitatively spiral-like elements in complex stripe-like patterns. The approach provides the location of the spiral tip and the size of the spiral arms in terms of their arc length and their winding number. In addition, it yields the number of pattern components (Betti number of order 1), as well as their size and certain aspects of their shape. We apply the method to spiral defect chaos in thermally driven Rayleigh-Benard convection and find that the arc length of spirals decreases monotonically with decreasing Prandtl number of the fluid and increasing heating. By contrast, the winding number of the spirals is nonmonotonic in the heating. The distribution function for the number of spirals is significantly narrower than a Poisson distribution. The distribution function for the winding number shows approximately an exponential decay. It depends only weakly on the heating, but strongly on the Prandtl number. Large spirals arise only for larger Prandtl numbers (Pr approximately > 1). In this regime the joint distribution for the spiral length and the winding number exhibits a three-peak structure, indicating the dominance of Archimedean spirals of opposite sign and relatively straight sections. For small Prandtl numbers the distribution function reveals a large number of small compact pattern components.     

Motion of spiral waves induced by local pacing

The motion of spiral waves in excitable media driven by a weak pacing around the spiral tip is investigated numerically as well as theoretically. We presented a Bifurcations diagram containing four types of the spiral motion induced by different frequencies of pacing: rigidly rotating, inward-petal meandering, resonant drift, and outward-petal meandering spiral. Simulation shows that the spiral resonantly drifts when the frequency of pacing is close to that of the spiral rotation. We also find that the speed and direction of the drift can be efficiently controlled by means of the strength and phase of the local pacing, which is consistent with analytical results based on the framework of the weak deformation approximation.      

Pursuit-evasion predator-prey waves in two spatial dimensions

We consider a spatially distributed population dynamics model with excitable predator-prey kinetics, where species propagate in space due to their taxis with respect to each other's gradient in addition to, or instead of, their diffusive spread. Earlier, we have described new phenomena in this model in one spatial dimension, not found in analogous systems without taxis: reflecting and self-splitting waves. Here we identify new phenomena in two spatial dimensions: unusual patterns of meander of spirals, partial reflection of waves, swelling wave tips, attachment of free wave ends to wave backs, and as a result, a novel mechanism of self-supporting complicated spatiotemporal activity, unknown in reaction-diffusion population models.     

Controlling chaos by developing spiral wave from heterogeneity in excitable medium

We study pattern formation induced by a spiral wave developing from heterogeneities in an excitable medium. Turbulence can be suppressed by a spiral wave from the heterogeneity, forming multiple coexistent systems of regular geometrical patterns. We find that the types of these patterns depend critically on the degree of heterogeneity. The underlying mechanism is due to dispersion relation which is characterized by excitability.      

间接延迟耦合可激发介质中螺旋波的演化

采用Bär 模型研究了通过被动介质间接延迟耦合的两层可激发介质中螺旋波的相互作用. 数值模拟结果表明: 延迟耦合可以促进两个螺旋波的同步, 也可导致从螺旋波到集体振荡、各种靶波、时空混沌态或静息态的转变; 在这个耦合系统中还观察到周期 2和周期3螺旋波以及螺旋波漫游和漂移现象; 对产生这些现象的物理机制做了讨论. 关键词： 螺旋波 被动介质 时间延迟耦合 同步     

Chemical turbulence and standing waves in a surface reaction model: The influence of global coupling and wave instabilities

Among heterogeneously catalyzed chemical reactions, the CO oxidation on the Pt(110) surface under vacuum conditions offers probably the greatest wealth of spontaneous formation of spatial patterns. Spirals, fronts, and solitary pulses were detected at low surface temperatures (T<500 K), in line with the standard phenomenology of bistable, excitable, and oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems. At high temperatures (T greater, similar 540 K), more surprising features like chemical turbulence and standing waves appeared in the experiments. Herein, we study a realistic reaction-diffusion model of this system, with respect to the latter phenomena. In particular, we deal both with the influence of global coupling through the gas phase on the oscillatory reaction and the possibility of wave instabilities under excitable conditions. Gas-phase coupling is shown to either synchronize the oscillations or to yield turbulence and standing structures. The latter findings are closely related to clustering in networks of coupled oscillators and indicate a dominance of the global gas-phase coupling over local coupling via surface diffusion. In the excitable regime wave instabilities in one and two dimensions have been discovered. In one dimension, pulses become unstable due to a vanishing of the refractory zone. In two dimensions, turbulence can also emerge due to spiral breakup, which results from a violation of the dispersion relation.     

Varieties of spiral wave behavior: An experimentalist's approach to the theory of excitable media

Spiral waves in diverse excitable media exhibit strikingly variegated behavior. Mechanistic interpretations of excitability in laboratory systems are commonly tested by comparing the wavelength, period, and meander patterns of the model's spiral waves with laboratory observations, but models seem seldom to be rejected by such tests. The reason may be that almost any excitable medium behaves in many respects like almost any other, if its parameters are properly adjusted within a reasonable range. What generalizations can be made about "excitable media" in the absence of more specifications? It would be useful to distinguish such generic features from idiosyncrasies of specific models. The range of behavioral flexibility of the FitzHugh-Nagumo excitable medium is explored by varying two of its parameters and comparing the results with other excitable media to suggest a generic pattern of parameter dependence. The results exhibit the remarkable diversity of rotor behavior in a single model and provide a database for quantitative testing of mathematical generalizations.     

Reducing SAR in parallel excitation using variable-density spirals: a simulation-based study

Parallel excitation using multiple transmit channels has emerged as an effective method to shorten multidimensional spatially selective radiofrequency (RF) pulses, which have a number of important applications, including B1 field inhomogeneity correction in high-field MRI. The specific absorption rate (SAR) is a primary concern in high-field MRI, where wavelength effects can lead to local peaks in SAR. In parallel excitation, the subjects are exposed to RF pulses from multiple coils, which makes the SAR problem more complex to analyze, yet potentially enables greater freedom in designing RF pulses with lower SAR. Parallel-excitation techniques typically employ either Cartesian or constant-density (CD) spiral trajectories. In this article, variable-density (VD) spiral trajectories are explored as a means for SAR reduction in parallel-excitation pulse design. Numerical simulations were conducted to study the effects of CD and VD spirals on parallel excitation. Specifically, the electromagnetic fields of a four-channel transmit head coil with a three-dimensional head model at 4.7 T were simulated using a finite-difference time domain method. The parallel RF pulses were designed and the resulting excitation patterns were generated using a Bloch simulator. The SAR distributions due to CD and VD spirals were evaluated quantitatively. The simulation results show that, for the same pulse duration, parallel excitation with VD spirals can achieve a lower SAR compared to CD spirals for parallel excitation. VD spirals also resulted in reduced artifact power in the excitation patterns. This gain came with slight, but noticeable, degrading of the spatial resolution of the resulting excitation patterns.     

非均匀可激发介质中的稀密螺旋波

在非均匀可激发介质中,采用Barkley模型数值模拟了稀螺旋波和密螺旋波, 并对二者的动力学行为随参数的变化进行了研究. 结果发现:稀螺旋波的旋转频率随参数b的增加迅速减小,之后趋于饱和, 显示出不同于密螺旋波的行为;两种螺旋波的周期和波长随参数ε 和非均匀区域尺寸R的增加而增加,相对稀螺旋波而言,密螺旋波的性质对R的依赖更为敏感; 稀螺旋波端点的波速随R的增加而减小,与密螺旋波波速变化趋势相反. 另外,由于非均匀区域的影响,当ε 或b 超过某一临界值时,螺旋波臂上出现缺陷点.