Coalescence cascade of dissipative solitons in parametrically driven systems

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2011 Sep;84(3 Pt 2):036205. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.84.036205. Epub 2011 Sep 8.

Abstract

Parametrically driven spatially extended systems exhibit uniform oscillations which are modulationally unstable. The resulting periodic state evolves to the creation of a gas of dissipative solitons. Driven by the interaction of dissipative solitons, the multisoliton state undergoes a cascade of coalescence processes, where the average soliton separation distance obeys a temporal self-similar law. Starting from the soliton pair interaction law, we have derived analytically and characterized the law of this multisoliton coarsening process. A comparison of numerical results obtained with different models such as the parametrically driven damped nonlinear Schrödinger equation, a vertically driven chain of pendula, and a parametrically forced magnetic wire, shows remarkable agreement. Both phenomena, the pair interaction law and the coarsening process, are also observed experimentally in a quasi-one-dimensional layer of Newtonian fluid which is oscillated vertically.