EXCITATION WAVE BREAKING IN EXCITABLE MEDIA WITH LINEAR SHEAR-FLOW

If an excitable medium is moving with relative shear, the waves of exc itation may be broken by the motion. We consider such breaks for the c ase of a constant linear shear flow. The mechanisms and conditions for the breaking of solitary waves and wave trains are essentially differ ent: the solitary waves require the velocity gradient to exceed a cert ain threshold, while the breaking of repetitive wave trains happens fo r arbitrarily small velocity gradients.