A cellular automaton for a surface reaction: Stabilization from chaotic to periodical states

The chaotic behavior in a chemical reaction can be controlled by means of the method of external forcing. This technique, which is based on the resonance phenomenon, converts chaotic behavior into periodical one through application of a sinusoidal modulation. This paper analyzes the influence of a periodical perturbation on the environment temperature in a model of cellular automaton for the catalytic oxidation of CO. The model includes the variation of the catalyst temperature in order to analyze the oscillatory behavior of the reaction. The results of the simulations show chaotic and quasiperiodical behaviors. We point out that the periodical forcing can remove the chaotic dynamics through the stabilization of periodical solutions.