WAVE-PROPAGATION IN AN EXCITABLE MEDIUM ALONG A LINE OF A VELOCITY JUMP

The propagation of an excitation wave in a distributed medium along a stripe with increased velocity is shown to result in the formation of a stationary V-shaped wave structure. The propagation velocity of this structure depends on the width of the stripe due to effects of wave curvature. We observed this phenomenon in a light-sensitive version of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky system under nonhomogeneous illumination. Equations are derived that describe quantitatively the observed wave structures and applied to estimate the diffusion coefficient of the propagator species.