Control of a Multistable 3-ring Network of Chemical Oscillators
Abstract
The Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction is a limit cycle oscillator with dynamical attributes comparable to neurons. By fabricating microfluidic wells filled with the BZ chemistry, we create reaction-diffusion networks with rich dynamical patterns that can yield fundamental insights into dynamics of neural networks. A simple network of three inhibitor-coupled wells connected in a ring possesses two stable, dynamical steady states: clockwise and counterclockwise traveling waves. By photo-chemically perturbing the wells' intrinsic frequencies we can force the system to switch states. In this work, we explore the steady states as a function of applied light gradient using the Kuramoto phase model and Vanaag-Epstein model for photosensitive BZ. Optimal control theory is then applied to determine the most efficient way to drive the system from one attractor to another.
Financial support from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Research Office under contract/ Grant Number W911NF-16-1-0094, and the microfluidics facility of the NSF MRSEC DMR-1420382.- Publication:
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APS March Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019APS..MARC56008S