Experimental and theoretical studies of a coupled chemical oscillator: Phase death, multistability, and in-phase and out-of-phase entrainment

Abstract

The oscillatory Belousov-Zhabotinskii reaction with acetylacetone as substrate has been studied in a pair of stirred tank reactors coupled by mass flow. The inputs to the two cells, and hence the uncoupled oscillation frequencies, are slightly different. Depending upon the coupling strength, three types of behavior are observed: in-phase entrainment, out-of-phase entrainment, or phase death (cessation of oscillations and transition to a steady state). For some values of the coupling, more than one of these three states may be stable. The origins of this behavior are discussed in terms of the Field-Körös-Noyes mechanism for the chemistry and the role of the intercell transport. Simulations using two coupled three-variable Oregonator models and a phase plane analysis of those results give good agreement with the experiments and support our mechanistic interpretation of the dynamical behavior. © 1989 American Chemical Society.