SPLITTING OF 2D WAVES OF EXCITATION IN A DIRECT-CURRENT ELECTRIC-FIELD

Experimental observations of splitting of planar wave fronts propagati ng in a thin layer of Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction mixture exposed t o de electric field are described. Distinct effects of electric field on individual waves in a pattern can lead to a wave segmentation and d evelopment of disordered spatiotemporal structures via process of wave breakup and fusion. Stabilizing or destabilizing effects of electric field on free ends of wave segments are discussed in the frame of anis otropic and nonhomogeneous distribution of the medium's refractoriness . Effects of electric field on circular waves are investigated numeric ally using a realistic scheme of the BZ reaction. Wave splitting, reve rsal, and annihilation that occur on the arcs of circular waves expand ing toward the negative electrode are shown to depend both on the fiel d intensity and on the wave order in a pattern.