Computing with Chemical Waves: Reliable Logic Operations Under Perturbations

Computing and logic operations can be implemented in different types of systems. A wide variety of systems, including biomolecules, gene regulatory networks, or interacting mechanical systems, can implement basic logic operations and even computations. In this work, we use a reaction-diffusion system, such as the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction, to develop unconventional computing frameworks. Building on previous work that demonstrated basic chemical logic gates (AND, OR, NOT, XOR) in this medium, we extend this concept to programmable signal routing using multiplexer-demultiplexer (MUX-DEMUX) structures. We design chemical networks that selectively transmit information by using wavefront interactions (collision, merging, and annihilation), allowing chemical waves to direct inputs to specific outputs. To assess the robustness,we introduce perturbations in the system parameters. Despite these variations, all simulations perform their intended logic operations reliably. This demonstrates the system’s intrinsic tolerance to stochasticity, similar to how biological systems reliably process information under noisy conditions. Our work thus integrates logical computation with dynamic pattern formation and highlights the potential of reaction-diffusion systems as physically grounded platforms for robust information processing in the presence of noise.