Department of Physics and Center of Complex Systems Research, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801
Abstract
We consider a two-dimensional pulse-coupled array of noisy threshold elements with a long-range interaction. It is shown that the synchronization of activation patterns with external excitatory waves shows a sharp peak at a finite, well defined noise level. This effect can be understood as a generalization of the concept of stochastic resonance to spatially extended systems. We further show the impact of spatio-temporal stochastic resonance for the spreading of spiral waves, where the noise level controls the scale and size of the spiral.
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Noise sustained spiral wave at parameters for spatio-temporal stochastic resonance condition. (quicktime video, mpeg format part1, part2, part3, part4, part5, part6, high res quicktime)
For smaller noise levels the wave will be extinguished, for larger noise levels double scrolls are generated via stochastic nucleation and interfere with each other, obliterating any large sale coherent patterns.
