Complex Periodic and Chaotic Behavior in the Belousov-Zhabotinskii Reaction

Abstract

In recent years the authors and co-workers [1] have investigated the dynamics of the Belousov-Zhabotinskii (BZ) reaction in a stirred-flow reactor. The experiments [2] have revealed a series of alternating periodic and chaotic regimes as a function of flow rate. With increasing reactor residence time (τ) the regimes are labelled P1,C1,,P2,C2,etc. where P1 indicates large amplitude oscillations, P2 one large followed by one small amplitude oscillation, P3 one large followed by two small oscillations and so on. Detailed investigation of C1 has shown that it, in turn, is a complex series of chaotic states separated by periodic windows which may be understood in terms of an underlying one-dimensional map.