Nonlinear Dynamics of the BZ Reaction: A Simple Experiment that Illustrates Limit Cycles, Chaos, Bifurcations, and Noise

A simple batch experiment is described that involves the recording of time series of the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. It displays a variety of dynamical phenomena that illustrate some of the key concepts of nolinear dynamics. As the system evolves, it drifts slowly through parameter space and encounters on its path different dynamical domains and their associated, transient bifurcations. The qualitative study of these phenomena teaches, amongst others, the important concepts of separation of time scales and the notion of dynamics on a given, relevant time scale, of limit cycle and chaotic oscillations, super- and subcritical Hopf bifurcations and of the time-varying response of the system to external noise.