Controlling pattern formation and spatio-temporal disorder in nonlinear optics

We present a feedback control method for the stabilization of unstable patterns and for the control of spatio-temporal disorder. The control takes the form of a spatial modulation to the input pump, which is obtained via filtering in Fourier space of the output electric field. The control is powerful, flexible and non-invasive: the feedback vanishes once control is achieved. We demonstrate by means of computer simulation, the effect of the control in two different optical systems

Manipulation and removal of defects in spontaneous optical patterns

Defects play an important role in a number of fields dealing with ordered structures. They are often described in terms of their topology, mutual interaction and their statistical characteristics. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally the possibility of an active manipulation and removal of defects. We focus on the spontaneous formation of two-dimensional spatial structures in a nonlinear optical system, a liquid crystal light valve under single optical feedback. With increasing distance from threshold, the spontaneously formed hexagonal pattern becomes disordered and contains several defects. A scheme based on Fourier filtering allows us to remove defects and to restore spatial order. Starting without control, the controlled area is progressively expanded, such that defects are swept out of the active area.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Fourier space control in an LCLV feedback system

. We show that a control technique, based on feedback filtered at a Fourier plane, can stabilize the spatio-temporally disordered output of a nonlinear optical system. We demonstrate this in an experiment with a LCLV feedback system and in a theoretical model. We stabilize the system and select square and roll patterns. The technique is non-invasive in that the control signal becomes small when control is achieved. A combination of real- and Fourier-space filtering can stabilize patterns in any chosen region of the transverse space. Keywords: Nonlinear optics, pattern formation, control of chaos 1. Introduction The spontaneous formation of spatial patterns is a beautiful and exciting phenomenon, appearing in a large variety of open, extended and nonlinear systems. Over the last decade or so, these effects have been systematically investigated in nonlinear optics [1--3]. Such arbitrary processes can be quite obstructive from the point of view of applications and it is therefore ..

Formation and control of Turing patterns and phase fronts in photonics and chemistry

We review the main mechanisms for the formation of regular spatial structures (Turing patterns) and phase fronts in photonics and chemistry driven by either diffraction or diffusion. We first demonstrate that the so-called 'off-resonance' mechanism leading to regular patterns in photonics is a Turing instability. We then show that negative feedback techniques for the control of photonic patterns based on Fourier transforms can be extended and applied to chemical experiments. The dynamics of phase fronts leading to locked lines and spots are also presented to outline analogies and differences in the study of complex systems in these two scientific disciplines

Boundary-induced localized structures in a nonlinear optical feedback experiment

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

The South Atlantic carbon isotope record of planktic foraminifera

We reviewed the paleoceanographic application of the carbon isotope composition of planktic foraminifera. Major controls on the distribution of d13C of dissolved CO2 (d13CSCO2) in the modern ocean are photosynthesis-respiration cycle, isotopic fractionation during air-sea exchange, and circulation. The carbon isotope composition of surface waters is not recorded without perturbations by planktic foraminifera. Besides d13CSCO2 of the surrounding seawater, the d13C composition of planktic foraminifera is affected by vital effects, the water depth of calcification and postdepositional dissolution. We compared several high-resolution (>10cm/ka) carbon isotope records from the Southern Ocean, the Benguela upwelling system, and the tropical Atlantic. In the Southern Ocean, carbon isotope values are about 1.2 per mil lower during the LGM and up to 1.7 per mil lower during the last deglaciation, when compared to the Holocene. These depletions might be explained with a combination of a subsurface nutrient enrichment and reduced air-sea exchange due to an increased stratification of surface waters. In the Benguela Upwelling system, waters originating in the south are upwelled. While the deglacial minimum is transferred and recorded in its full extent in the d13C record of Globigerina bulloides, glacial values show only little changes. This might suggest, that the lower glacial d13C values of high-latitude surface waters are not upwelled off Namibia, or that G. bulloides records post-upwelling conditions, when increased seasonal production has already increased surface-water d13C. Synchronous to the d13C depletions in high latitudes, low d13C values were recorded in Globigerinoides sacculifer during the LGM and during the last deglaciation in the nutrient-depleted western equatorial Atlantic. Hence, part of the glacial-interglacial variability presumably transferred from high to low latitudes seems to be related to changes in thermodynamic fractionation. The variability in d13C is lowest in the northernmost core M35003-4 from the eastern Caribbean, implying that the Antarctic Intermediate Water might have acted as a conduit to transfer the deglacial minimum to tropical surface waters