SPIRAL WAVES IN CHAOTIC SYSTEMS

Spiral waves are investigated in chemical systems whose underlying spa tially homogeneous dynamics is governed by a deterministic chaotic att ractor. We show how the local periodic behavior in the vicinity of a s piral defect is transformed to chaotic dynamics far from the defect. T he transformation occurs by a type of period doubling as the distance from the defect increases. The change in character of the dynamics is described in terms of the phase space flow on closed curves surroundin g the defect.