Defect-mediated turbulence in a catalytic surface reaction

We analyze the statistical properties of topological defects in an experimental reaction-diffusion system -the catalytic CO oxidation on Pt(110). Based on the gain and loss rates of defects, a probabilistic description of defect-mediated turbulence in this system is derived. We observe deviations from theoretical predictions for the statistics of topological defects that can be explained by the presence of short-range correlations between defects and underline the importance of correlations for defect dynamics in such systems.