Oscillations and turbulence induced by an activating agent in an active medium - art. no. 045601

An excitable Belousov-Zhabotinsky reagent becomes oscillatory above a thres hold of methanol concentration [Me]. The oscillation period decreases with increasing [Me]. A model describes these observations quantitatively. In a spatiotemporal setup, a [Me] gradient causes waves with spatially varying p roperties; this leads to wave breaks that end up in turbulence, both in exp eriments and in simulations with partial differential equations.