Kaleidoscopic spatial instability: Bifurcations of optical transverse solitary waves

The cell-exit transverse profile for one-way propagation through sodium vapor forms a pattern of spots with complexity and beauty rivaling that of a kaleidoscope. These patterns are stationary in time, reproduce completely when the power or frequency is scanned, and agree well with one-way computations that show that the patterns change very little after one-fifth of the propagation distance, i.e., they exhibit the properties of bifurcations of transverse solitary waves.