Analysis of anchor-size effects on pinned scroll waves and measurement of filament rigidity

Inert, spherical heterogeneities can pin three-dimensional scroll waves in the excitable Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. Three pinning sites cause initially circular rotation backbones to approach equilateral triangles. The resulting stationary shapes show convex deviations that increase with decreasing anchor radii. This dependence is interpreted as a transition between filament termination at large surfaces and true, local pinning of a continuous curve. The shapes of the filament segments are described by a hyperbolic cosine function which is predicted by kinematic theory that considers filament tension and rigidity. The latter value is measured as (1.0±0.7)×10-6 cm4/s.