Excitable London: Street map analysis with Oregonator model

Abstract

We explore geometry of London's streets using computational mode of an excitable chemical system, Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) medium. We virtually fill in the streets with a BZ medium and study propagation of excitation waves for a range of excitability parameters, gradual transition from excitable to sub-excitable to non-excitable. We demonstrate a pruning strategy adopted by the medium with decreasing excitability when wider and ballistically appropriate streets are selected. We explain mechanics of streets selection and pruning. The results of the paper will be used in future studies of studying dynamics of cities with living excitable substrates.