Spatio-temporal modeling of wave formation in an excitable chemical medium based on a revised fitzhughnagumo model

The wavefront profile and the propagation velocity of waves in an experimentally observedBelousov-Zhabotinskii reaction are analyzed and a revised FitzHumgh-Nagumo (FHN) modelof these systems is identified. The ratio between the excitation period and the recovery period,for a solitary wave is studied, and included within the model. Averaged traveling velocities atdifferent spatial positions are shown to be consistent under the same experimental conditions.The relationship between the propagation velocity and the curvature of the wavefront are alsostudied to deduce the diffusion coefficient in the model, which is a function of the curvature ofthe wavefront and not a constant. The application of the identified model is demonstrated onreal experimental data and validated using multistep ahead predictions.

International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos, 21(02), 505–512. World Scientific Publishing