Li Bing-Wei, Deng Ling-Yun, Zhang Hong
Zhejiang Institute of Modern Physics and Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027 China.
Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2013 Apr;87(4):042905. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.87.042905. Epub 2013 Apr 4.
The emergence of order in far-from-equilibrium systems is often accompanied by the formation of spatially asymmetric patterns. About 30 years ago, a general mechanism to select a chiral solution by coupling a reaction-diffusion system to an external chiral electric field was proposed by Nicolis and Prigogine [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78, 659 (1981)]. However, no experimental or even numerical evidence in reaction-diffusion systems has been reported yet. Here we report a chiral symmetry-breaking phenomenon in a reaction-diffusion system coupled to a circularly polarized electric field (CPEF). Specifically, we show that the CPEF breaks the zero-rotation chiral symmetry between clockwise and counterclockwise spiral defects and that ordered spiral waves with preferred chirality arise from defect-mediated turbulence. The occurrence of such chiral symmetry breaking can be understood by the competition between spiral defects with opposite chirality.
远离平衡态系统中秩序的出现通常伴随着空间不对称模式的形成。大约30年前，尼科利斯和普里戈金提出了一种通过将反应扩散系统与外部手性电场耦合来选择手性解的通用机制[《美国国家科学院院刊》78, 659 (1981)]。然而，尚未有关于反应扩散系统的实验甚至数值证据的报道。在此，我们报告了在与圆偏振电场（CPEF）耦合的反应扩散系统中出现的手性对称性破缺现象。具体而言，我们表明CPEF打破了顺时针和逆时针螺旋缺陷之间的零旋转手性对称性，并且具有优先手性的有序螺旋波由缺陷介导的湍流产生。这种手性对称性破缺的发生可以通过具有相反手性的螺旋缺陷之间的竞争来理解。
