Experiments are presented on pattern formation in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction in a blinking vortex flow. Mixing in this flow is chaotic, with nearby tracers separating exponentially with time. The patterns that form in this flow with the BZ reaction mimic chaotic mixing structures seen in passive transport. The behavior is analyzed in terms of a mixing time taum and a characteristic ...

In this essay I examine the ways in which the Belousov– Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction is being used by biologists to model a variety of biological systems and processes. The BZ reaction is characterized as a functional model of biological phenomena. It is able to play this role because, though based on very different substrates, the model and system modeled are examples of the same type of excitabl...

In cellular automata models a glider gun is an oscillating pattern of nonquiescent states that periodically emits traveling localizations (gliders). The glider streams can be combined to construct functionally complete systems of logical gates and thus realize universal computation. The glider gun is the only means of ensuring the negation operation without additional external input and therefo...

Almost 30 years have passed since the discovery of concentric (target) and spiral waves in the spatially extended Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. Since then, rotating spirals and target waves have been observed in a variety of physical, chemical, and biological reaction-diffusion systems. All of these waves propagate out from the spiral center or pacemaker. We report observations of inwardl...

We have found a variety of oscillating patterns in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction-diffusion system with global negative feedback. Bulk oscillations and wave patterns arise at low values of the feedback strength. When the feedback exceeds a critical value, cluster patterns arise. Besides the standing, irregular, and localized clusters observed earlier, we have found new types of clusters...

Experiments on a quasi-two-dimensional Belousov–Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction-diffusion system, periodically forced at approximately twice its natural frequency, exhibit resonant labyrinthine patterns that develop through two distinct mechanisms. In both cases, large amplitude labyrinthine patterns form that consist of interpenetrating fingers of frequency-locked regions differing in phase by π. An...

Spontaneous antispiral wave formation was observed during the simulation of typical reaction-diffusion systems using differential equations models. The equations for the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN), complex Ginzburg-Landau (CGL) and the two-variable Oregonator models were integrated using Runge-Kutta methods. It was found that antispiral waves can occur only near the Hopf bifurcation, i.e. the point ...

Spontaneous spatiotemporal wave activity occurs in groups of excitable particles for groups larger than a critical size. Experiments are carried out with particles loaded with the catalyst of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction that are immersed in catalyst-free reaction mixture. The particles diffusively exchange activator and inhibitor species with the surrounding solution. All particles are no...

The effect of acetone on temporal oscillations and spatio-temporal patterns occurring in the ruthenium-catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction was investigated in a closed batch system. The periods of temporal oscillations and waves significantly decrease with increasing acetone concentration. At low concentrations of acetone (0.01-0.05 M), regular wave patterns are observed with prolonged...