Spiral waves in oscillatory media with an applied electric field

Spiral waves in oscillatory reaction-diffusion systems under the influence of a uniform, time-independent electric field are modeled by the complex Gi nzburg-Landau equation extended to include a convective term with complex c oefficient. Results for the spiral drift, deformation, and frequency shift due to the electric field are obtained. The coefficient of the additional c onvective term is derived from the original reaction-diffusion system. The equation provides a good qualitative model of experimentally seen distortio n of spiral waves in the presence of an applied electric field.