MECHANISM FOR SPONTANEOUS FORMATION OF CROSSING CHEMICAL WAVES IN A STRATIFIED REACTION-DIFFUSION SYSTEM

Experiments are presented that show details of spontaneous formation o f the crossing wave pattern in the thin layer Belousov-Zhabotinsky rea ction-diffusion system, together with a model that qualitatively repro duces the phenomenon. The model shows that small variations of the lay er thickness can result in variations of the excitability profile. The crossing wave pattern emerges when an initial periodic bottom wave tr ain excites the top part of the layer along a line where a small sharp increase in the thickness of the layer takes place.