Minisymposium for Young Researchers - Abstract
Pinto, David
We explore the dynamics of a liquid crystal light valve with optical feedback. This feedback is translated thanks to a misalignment in the experiment. Exploring the translation parameter, instabilities to traveling or turbulent patterns are achieved. Surprisingly, there exists an intermediate state connecting these behaviors in space, characterized by a squared logarithmic law for dislocations accumulation in the translation direction. This state is predicted numerically by simulations and verified in the experiment. We show how these states are described by an inhomogeneous Ginzburg-Landau with advection, from which the dislocation distribution in space can be predicted. The general character of this equation allows the application of the theory to various nonlinear systems with broken reflection symmetry. Particularly, we show how the same law applies to vegetation patterns in sloped environments.