Spiral wave drift in an electric field and scroll wave instabilities

Here, I present the numerical computation of speed and direction of the drift of a spiral wave in an excitable medium in the presence of an electric field. The drift speed presents a strong variation close to the parameter value where the drift-speed component along the field direction from parallel becomes antiparallel. Using a simple phenomenological model and results from a numerical linear stability analysis of scroll waves, I show that this behavior can be attributed to a resonance of the meander modes with the translation modes of the spiral wave. Extending this phenomenological model to scroll waves also clarifies the link between the drift and long wavelength instabilities of scroll waves.