Abstract
Helical and helicoidal precipitation patterns emerging in the wake of reaction-diffusion fronts are studied. In our experiments, these chiral structures arise with well-defined probabilities controlled by conditions such as, e.g., the initial concentration of the reagents. We develop a model which describes the observed experimental trends. The results suggest that is determined by a delicate interplay among the time and length scales related to the front and to the unstable precipitation modes and, furthermore, that the noise amplitude also plays a quantifiable role.
- Received 11 September 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.078303
© 2013 American Physical Society