Eur. Phys. J. D 59, 133-137 (2010)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2010-00091-x

Boundary-induced localized structures in a nonlinear optical feedback experiment

¹ Institute of Applied Physics and Center for Nonlinear Science, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Corrensstr. 2/4, 48149 Münster, Germany
² Institute of Complex Systems, SUPA and Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde, 107 Rottenrow, Glasgow G4 0NG, Scotland, UK

Corresponding author: ^a This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 6 January 2010
Published online: 6 April 2010

Abstract

Experimental and numerical evidence of symmetry-breaking bifurcations of a circular dissipative soliton with additional boundary conditions in the feedback of a liquid crystal light valve are reported. By tuning the strength of the nonlinearity or the size of the additional boundaries, the circular structure breaks up into polygonal symmetries and the system exhibits multistability. The experimental results are confirmed by numerical simulations with different configurations of the polarizers thus demonstrating the universality of the phenomenon.