Transition from Spirals to Defect-Mediated Turbulence Driven by a Doppler Instability

Journal Article · Mon Jan 31 00:00:00 EST 2000 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.1047· OSTI ID:20215366

Ouyang, Qi ^[1]; Swinney, Harry L ^[2]; Li, Ge ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, Mesoscopic Physics Laboratory, Peking University, Beijing 100871, (China)
2. Center for Nonlinear Dynamics and Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 (United States)

A transition from rotating chemical spirals to turbulence is observed in experiments on the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. The transition occurs when the waves near the spiral tip spontaneously break, generating defects. Measurements reveal that this defect-mediated turbulence is caused by the Doppler effect on the traveling waves. The observations are in good accord with numerical simulations and theory. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.

• OSTI ID: 20215366
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 84, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: 31 Jan 2000; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
TURBULENCE
SPIRAL CONFIGURATION
DOPPLER EFFECT
TRAVELLING WAVES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA