Drift instabilities of cellular patterns

S. Fauve , S. Douady , O. Thual

We report basic mechanisms that generate a secondary drift instability of a stationary cellular pattern or a standing wave pattern. In both cases, we show how the “drift bifurcation” is associated with a space-reflection symmetry-breaking. When the most unstable mode comes in at finite wavenumber instead of zero wavenumber, the drift instability can be pre-empted by an oscillatory instability of the basic pattern wavenumber. We interpret different recent experimental observations within this framework.

Domaines: Articles anciens

S. Fauve, S. Douady, O. Thual. Drift instabilities of cellular patterns. Journal de Physique II, 1991, 1 (3), pp.311-322. ⟨10.1051/jp2:1991170⟩. ⟨jpa-00247520⟩