Crossover from a square to a hexagonal pattern in faraday surface waves

Phys Rev E Stat Phys Plasmas Fluids Relat Interdiscip Topics. 2000 Jul;62(1 Pt A):R33-6. doi: 10.1103/physreve.62.r33.

Abstract

We report on surface wave pattern formation in a Faraday experiment operated at a very shallow filling level, where modes with a subharmonic and harmonic time dependence interact. Associated with this distinct temporal behavior are different pattern selection mechanisms, favoring squares or hexagons, respectively. In a series of bifurcations running through a pair of superlattices the surface wave pattern transforms between the two incompatible symmetries. The close analogy to two- and three-dimensional crystallography is pointed out.