RUI: A Search for Fundamental Principles Governing Spontaneous Activations of Chemical Excitable Media

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Harold Hastings and co-PI Sabrina Sobel of Hofstra University are supported by a RUI award from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry program within the Division of Chemistry to carry out a collaborative experimental and theoretical research project on chemically excitable media that may be good model systems for cardiac tissue. The research involves a combination of experimental studies, led by Prof. Sobel of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid (CIMA) reaction and other related reactions to search for general principles for classifying chemical reactions in terms of their ability to support excitability. Reduced models are being derived and theoretical studies based on combining approaches involving Langevin equations, Master equations and molecular dynamics simulations are being carried out by Prof. Hastings. These theoretical and computational studies will help to elucidate the role of phenomena at different length and organizational scales in these nonlinear phenomena. One specific question being addressed by this research is the role of microscopic fluctuations and heterogeneities in giving rise to excitability. In particular, the role of chemical amplification of these fluctuations is being studied. The work is having a broad impact on the understanding of nonlinear phenomena, in general, and on the understanding of cardiac disease, particularly ventricular fibrillation. The work involves a collaborator, Prof. Richard Field of the University of Montana, and is incorporating both undergraduates and high school students as participants in the research. The PIs will distribute the resulting computer codes via their website.