title: Mechanism of standing wave patterns in cardiac muscle.
abstract: Recent experiments [R. A. Gray, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 168104 (2001)]] have revealed striking standing wave patterns in cardiac muscle. In excitable media, such as cardiac tissue where colliding waves annihilate, standing wave patterns result from a fully nonlinear mechanism. We present a possible physical mechanism explaining these patterns. The phenomenon does not depend on the precise excitable model chosen. Analogies are drawn with weak links in superconductors, and phase-slip solutions in the Ginzburg-Landau equations.
authors.affiliation: Institut Non Linéaire de Nice, 1361 route des Lucioles, F-06560, Valbonne, France.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pumir
authors.forename: Lorenz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Valentin
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krinsky
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology