Chemical wave-electrical field interaction phenomena (Q1088256)

Chemical waves in ionic media are shown to display a great variety of nonlinear phenomena. An overview of the application of bifurcation and scaling theory to the electrical field-chemical wave interaction problem is presented. It is discovered that electrical fields can induce effective negative phase diffusion coefficients in limit cycle systems and negative mode diffusion coefficients for systems near a bifurcation point. Waves are shown to exist in the system subject to an applied field when such waves do not exist in the field-free system. Entities like periodic static structures are shown to have an effective mobility and charge while fronts in some systems have an effective charge that can change sign with concentration. A host of new nonlinear equations describing these phenomena are posed. It is found that the variety of and potential to express nonlinear phenomena in reaction-transport system is greatly enhanced by imposed or self-generated electrical fields.