Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking: The Case of Crazy Clock and Beyond

Maja C. Pagnacco, Jelena P. Maksimović, Marko Daković, Bojana Bokic, Sébastien R. Mouchet, Thierry Verbiest, Yves Caudano, Branko Kolaric

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In this work, we describe the crazy-clock phenomenon involving the state I (low iodide and iodine concentration) to state II (high iodide and iodine concentration with new iodine phase) transition after a Briggs–Rauscher (BR) oscillatory process. While the BR crazy-clock phenomenon is known, this is the first time that crazy-clock behavior is linked and explained with the symmetry-breaking phenomenon, highlighting the entire process in a novel way. The presented phenomenon has been thoroughly investigated by running more than 60 experiments, and evaluated by using statistical cluster K-means analysis. The mixing rate, as well as the magnetic bar shape and dimensions, have a strong influence on the transition appearance. Although the transition for both mixing and no-mixing conditions are taking place completely randomly, by using statistical cluster analysis we obtain different numbers of clusters (showing the time-domains where the transition is more likely to occur). In the case of stirring, clusters are more compact and separated, revealed new hidden details regarding the chemical dynamics of nonlinear processes. The significance of the presented results is beyond oscillatory reaction kinetics since the described example belongs to the small class of chemical systems that shows intrinsic randomness in their response and it might be considered as a real example of a classical liquid random number generator.

Original languageEnglish
Article number413
JournalSymmetry
Volume14
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Briggs–Rauscher reaction
  • Crazy clock
  • Iodine
  • K-means analysis
  • Random number generator
  • State I to state II transition
  • Symmetry breaking

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking: The Case of Crazy Clock and Beyond'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this