Systems driven far from thermodynamic equilibrium can create dissipative structures through the spontaneous breaking of symmetries. A particularly fascinating feature of these pattern-forming systems is their tendency to produce spatially confined states. These localized wave packets can exist as propagating entities through space and/or time. Various examples of such systems will be dealt with in this book, including localized states in fluids, chemical reactions on surfaces, neural networks, optical systems, granular systems, population models, and Bose-Einstein condensates.This book should appeal to all physicists, mathematicians and electrical engineers interested in localization in far-from-equilibrium systems. The authors - all recognized experts in their fields - strive to achieve a balance between theoretical and experimental considerations thereby giving an overview of fascinating physical principles, their manifestations in diverse systems, and the novel technical applications on the horizon.
Author(s): Miroslaw A. Karpierz, Gaetano Assanto (auth.), Orazio Descalzi, Marcel Clerc, Stefania Residori, Gaetano Assanto (eds.)
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 286
Tags: Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity;Quantum Optics;Phase Transitions and Multiphase Systems;Soft and Granular Matter, Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Light Self-trapping in Nematic Liquid Crystals....Pages 3-16
Photonic Plasma Instabilities and Soliton Turbulence in Spatially Incoherent Light....Pages 17-39
Gap-Acoustic Solitons: Slowing and Stopping of Light....Pages 41-66
Optical Wave Turbulence and Wave Condensation in a Nonlinear Optical Experiment....Pages 67-87
Front Matter....Pages 89-89
Localized Structures in the Liquid Crystal Light Valve Experiment....Pages 91-108
Convectons....Pages 109-125
Morphological Characterization of Localized Hexagonal Patterns....Pages 127-138
Front Matter....Pages 139-139
Cavity Solitons in Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers and their Applications....Pages 141-167
Cavity Soliton Laser based on coupled micro-resonators....Pages 169-186
Cavity soliton laser based on a VCSEL with saturable absorber....Pages 187-211
Dynamic Control of Localized Structures in a Nonlinear Feedback Experiment....Pages 213-238
Front Matter....Pages 239-239
Interaction of oscillatory and excitable localized states in a nonlinear optical cavity....Pages 241-264
Lurching waves in thalamic neuronal networks....Pages 265-281
Back Matter....Pages 283-286
