Interaction of scroll waves in an excitable medium: Reconnection and repulsion.

Abstract

Scroll waves of reentrant activity and their interactions pose a serious threat to cardiac health. In experiments with the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction we demonstrate the interaction of scroll waves. We show that depending on their mutual orientation, two scroll rings can push each other away and rupture on touching the system boundary, or they can reconnect to form a single, large ring. Reconnection only occurs when the filaments lie within one core length of each other. The reconnected filament has extended lifetimes, which could have serious implications in systems where they occur. The experimental results are explained on the basis of a simple numerical model.