Abstract
A new kind of nonlinear nonequilibrium patterns—twisted spiral waves—is predicted for periodically forced oscillatory reaction-diffusion media. We show, furthermore, that, in such media, spatial regions with modified local properties may act as traps where propagating waves can be stored and released in a controlled way. Underlying both phenomena is the effect of the wavelength-dependent propagation reversal of traveling phase fronts, always possible when homogeneous oscillations are modulationally stable without forcing. The analysis is performed using as a model the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation, applicable for reaction-diffusion systems in the vicinity of a supercritical Hopf bifurcation.
- Received 30 May 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.018302
©2006 American Physical Society