Professors Epstein and Kustin are supported by a grant from the Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Program to continue their research in the area of oscillating chemical reactions. Reactions of this type are not only of an academic interest, but are also of key importance in biological processes such as those involved in heart function. Epstein and Kustin will conduct research in four primary areas including: 1) The design of oscillatory reactions involving new chemistry not typically found in current day oscillating reactions; 2) Mechanistic investigations of oscillatory systems conducted both by experiment and by computer simulation; 3) The probing of complex dynamical phenomena in excitable media including spatial wave propagation, spatial pattern formation, and light induced oscillatory behavior; and 4) The study of coupled oscillatory chemical reactions. Professors Epstein and Kustin also plan to host Professor Anatol M. Zhabotinskii from the National Scientific Center of Hematology in Moscow, USSR, during the first year of this grant. Dr. Zhabotinskii is one of the co-discoverers of the famous Belousov-Zhabotinskii (BZ) oscillating chemical reaction which forms the basis for much of the experimental research in this field.
