A ring-like heterogeneous medium-induced self-sustained target waves in excitable media

Abstract

The formation of self-sustained target wave in a two-dimensional excitable medium into which a ring-like heterogeneous excitable medium is introduced is investigated. The numerical results show that the initial perturbation can produce a self-sustained target wave in an excitable medium when the excitabilities of two media and the size of the ring are appropriately chosen. The physical mechanism responsible for the formation of self-sustained target wave is analyzed.