Strings, branes and twistons: topological analysis of phase defects in excitable media such as the heart

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Arno, Louise, Kabus, Desmond, Dierckx, Hans
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
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author Arno, Louise
Kabus, Desmond
Dierckx, Hans
author_facet Arno, Louise
Kabus, Desmond
Dierckx, Hans
contents Several excitable systems, such as the heart, self-organize into complex spatio-temporal patterns that involve wave collisions, wave breaks, and rotating vortices, of which the dynamics are incompletely understood. Recently, conduction block lines in two-dimensional media were recognized as phase defects, on which quasi-particles can be defined. These particles also form bound states, one of which corresponds to the classical phase singularity. Here, we relate the quasi-particles to the structure of the dynamical attractor in state space and extend the framework to three spatial dimensions. We reveal that 3D excitable media are governed by phase defect surfaces, i.e. branes, and three flavors of topologically preserved curves, i.e. strings: heads, tails, and pivot curves. We identify previously coined twistons as points of co-dimension three at the crossing of a head curve and a pivot curve. Our framework predicts splitting and branching phase defect surfaces that can connect multiple classical filaments, thereby proposing a new mechanism for the origin, perpetuation, and control of complex excitation patterns, including cardiac fibrillation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_02571
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Strings, branes and twistons: topological analysis of phase defects in excitable media such as the heart
Arno, Louise
Kabus, Desmond
Dierckx, Hans
Pattern Formation and Solitons
Dynamical Systems
Biological Physics
Medical Physics
Several excitable systems, such as the heart, self-organize into complex spatio-temporal patterns that involve wave collisions, wave breaks, and rotating vortices, of which the dynamics are incompletely understood. Recently, conduction block lines in two-dimensional media were recognized as phase defects, on which quasi-particles can be defined. These particles also form bound states, one of which corresponds to the classical phase singularity. Here, we relate the quasi-particles to the structure of the dynamical attractor in state space and extend the framework to three spatial dimensions. We reveal that 3D excitable media are governed by phase defect surfaces, i.e. branes, and three flavors of topologically preserved curves, i.e. strings: heads, tails, and pivot curves. We identify previously coined twistons as points of co-dimension three at the crossing of a head curve and a pivot curve. Our framework predicts splitting and branching phase defect surfaces that can connect multiple classical filaments, thereby proposing a new mechanism for the origin, perpetuation, and control of complex excitation patterns, including cardiac fibrillation.
title Strings, branes and twistons: topological analysis of phase defects in excitable media such as the heart
topic Pattern Formation and Solitons
Dynamical Systems
Biological Physics
Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.02571