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This article is from the Nonlinear Science FAQ, by James D. Meiss jdm@boulder.colorado.edu with numerous contributions by others.

3.15] What is spatio-temporal chaos? (nonlinear science)

Spatio-temporal chaos occurs when system of coupled dynamical systems
gives rise to dynamical behavior that exhibits both spatial disorder (as in
rapid decay of spatial correlations) and temporal disorder (as in nonzero
Lyapunov exponents). This is an extremely active, and rather unsettled area of
research. For an introduction see:
Cross, M. C. and P. C. Hohenberg (1993). "Pattern Formation outside of
Equilibrium." Rev. Mod. Phys. 65: 851-1112.
http://www.cmp.caltech.edu/~mcc/st_chaos.html Spatio-Temporal Chaos

An interesting application which exhibits pattern formation and spatio-
temporal chaos is to excitable media in biological or chemical systems. See

Chaos, Solitions and Fractals 5 #3&4 (1995) Nonlinear Phenomena in Excitable
Physiological System, http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/chaos
http://ojps.aip.org/journal_cgi/dbt?KEY=CHAOEH&Volume=8&Issue=1
Chaos focus issue on Fibrillation

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