Segmented waves from a spatiotemporal transverse wave instability

We observe traveling waves emitted from Turing spots in the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic acid reaction. The newborn waves are continuous, but they break into segments as they propagate, and the propagation of these segments ultimately gives rise to spatiotemporal chaos. We model the wave-breaking process and the motion of the chaotic segments. We find stable segmented spirals as well. We attribute the segmentation to an interaction between front rippling via a transverse instability and front symmetry breaking by a fast-diffusing inhibitor far from the codimension-2 Hopf-Turing bifurcation, and the chaos to a secondary instability of the periodic segmentation. © 2005 The American Physical Society.