Breakdown of global coupling in oscillatory chemical reactions

The effects of global coupling through the gas phase in oscillatory surface chemical reactions are investigated using a model which represents the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation with an additional integral term. Depending on the parameters of the model, global coupling is found to have either a synchronizing or desynchronizing effect. Respectively, the breakdown of global coupling requires the presence of strong supercritical inhomogeneities or spontaneously occurs in a uniform system.