Differential susceptibility to noise of mixed Turing and Hopf modes in a photosensitive chemical medium

We report on experiments with the photosensitive chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction (CDIMA) when forced with a random (spatiotemporally) distributed illumination. Acting on a mixed mode consisting of oscillating spots, close enough to the Hopf and Turing codimension-two bifurcation, we observe attenuation of oscillations while the spatial pattern is preserved. Numerical simulations confirm and extend these results. All together these observations point out to a larger vulnerability of the Hopf with respect to the Turing mode when facing noise of intermediate intensity and small correlation parameters.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Swimming modes of self-assembled magnetic micropropeller

Postprint (published version

Magnetically tunable bidirectional locomotion of a self-assembled nanorod-sphere propeller

Field-driven direct assembly of nanoscale matter has impact in disparate fields of science. In microscale systems, such concept has been recently exploited to optimize propulsion in viscous fluids. Despite the great potential offered by miniaturization, using self-assembly to achieve transport at the nanoscale remains an elusive task. Here we show that a hybrid propeller, composed by a ferromagnetic nanorod and a paramagnetic microsphere, can be steered in a fluid in a variety of modes, from pusher to puller, when the pair is dynamically actuated by a simple oscillating magnetic field. We exploit this unique design to build more complex structures capable of carrying several colloidal cargos as microscopic trains that quickly disassemble at will under magnetic command. In addition, our prototype can be extended to smaller nanorods below the diffraction limit, but still dynamically reconfigurable by the applied magnetic field.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Direct measurement of Lighthill’s energetic efficiency of a minimal magnetic microswimmer

The realization of artificial microscopic swimmers able to propel in viscous fluids is an emergent research field of fundamental interest and vast technological applications. For certain functionalities, the efficiency of the microswimmer in converting the input power provided through an external actuation into propulsive power output can be critical. Here we use a microswimmer composed by a self-assembled ferromagnetic rod and a paramagnetic sphere and directly determine its swimming efficiency when it is actuated by a swinging magnetic field. Using fast video recording and numerical simulations we fully characterize the dynamics of the propeller and identify the two independent degrees of freedom which allow its propulsion. We then obtain experimentally the Lighthill’s energetic efficiency of the swimmer by measuring the power consumed during propulsion and the energy required to translate the propeller at the same speed. Finally, we discuss how the efficiency of our microswimmer could be increased upon suitable tuning of the different experimental parameters.Postprint (author's final draft

Noise-reversed stability of Turing patterns versus Hopf oscillations near codimension-two conditions

Pattern formation induced by noise is a celebrated phenomenon in diverse reaction-diffusion systems. Here we report numerical simulations with the Lengyel-Epstein model for the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction when perturbed with an external spatiotemporal stochastic forcing in the vicinity of the Hopf and Turing codimension-two bifurcation. Competition between Turing and Hopf modes gives rise to the generation of transient Turing patterns evolving to stationary global oscillations. This situation is reversed by the introduction of external fluctuations and Turing patterns become dominant in this case. The increase in the spatial coherence is found for intermediate noise intensity and small correlation length.Peer Reviewe

Noise-reversed stability of Turing patterns versus Hopf oscillations near codimension-two conditions

Pattern formation induced by noise is a celebrated phenomenon in diverse reaction-diffusion systems. Here we report numerical simulations with the Lengyel-Epstein model for the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction when perturbed with an external spatiotemporal stochastic forcing in the vicinity of the Hopf and Turing codimension-two bifurcation. Competition between Turing and Hopf modes gives rise to the generation of transient Turing patterns evolving to stationary global oscillations. This situation is reversed by the introduction of external fluctuations and Turing patterns become dominant in this case. The increase in the spatial coherence is found for intermediate noise intensity and small correlation length.Peer Reviewe

Noise-induced Brownian motion of spiral waves

We study the erratic displacement of spiral waves forced to move in a medium with random spatiotemporal excitability. Analytical work and numerical simulations are performed in relation to a kinematic scheme, assumed to describe the autowave dynamics for weakly excitable systems. Under such an approach, the Brownian character of this motion is proved and the corresponding dispersion coefficient is evaluated. This quantity shows a nontrivial dependence on the temporal and spatial correlation parameters of the external fluctuations. In particular, a resonantlike behavior is neatly evidenced in terms of the noise correlation time for the particular situation of spatially uniform fluctuations. Actually, this case turns out to be, to a large extent, exactly solvable, whereas a pair of dispersion mechanisms are discussed qualitatively and quantitatively to explain the results for the more general scenario of spatiotemporal disorder.Peer Reviewe

Differential susceptibility to noise of mixed Turing and Hopf modes in a photosensitive chemical medium

We report on experiments with the photosensitive chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction (CDIMA) when forced with a random (spatiotemporally) distributed illumination. Acting on a mixed mode consisting of oscillating spots, close enough to the Hopf and Turing codimension-two bifurcation, we observe attenuation of oscillations while the spatial pattern is preserved. Numerical simulations confirm and extend these results. All together these observations point out to a larger vulnerability of the Hopf with respect to the Turing mode when facing noise of intermediate intensity and small correlation parameters.Peer Reviewe

Wave pattern dynamics in fluctuating media

Analytical and numerical results on the ordering role of external random fluctuations in excitable systems are presented. Our study focuses on a simple model for excitable systems. Regular waves are created and sustained out of noise when the system is forced with random perturbations. Explicit results for the generation and dynamics of rings and targets are presented.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Periodic forcing of scroll rings and control of Winfree turbulence in excitable media

By simulations of the Barkley model, action of uniform periodic nonresonant forcing on scroll rings and wave turbulence in three-dimensional excitable media is investigated. Sufficiently strong rapid forcing converts expanding scroll rings into the collapsing ones and suppresses the Winfree turbulence caused by the negative tension of wave filaments. Slow strong forcing has an opposite effect, leading to expansion of scroll rings and induction of the turbulence. These effects are explained in the framework of the phenomenological kinematic theory of scroll waves.Peer Reviewe