SUBCRITICAL TRANSITION TOWARDS SPACE-TIME CHAOS

The subcritical transition towards space-time chaos of a nonlinear localized state (defined by well-defined fronts) is studied along the bifurcated hysteretic branch of the bifurcation. The experimental model system is the one-dimensional electroconvection of a nematic liquid crystal. The transition reveals an original cascade of bifurcations between front regimes, as well as a width-selection mechanism for the domains. A fifth-order Ginzburg–Landau equation reproduces most of the experimental observations.