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Abstract. Pattern formation in systems with a conserved quantity is considered by studying the appropriate amplitude equations. The conservation law leads to a large-scale neutral mode that must be included in the asymptotic analysis for pattern formation near onset. Near a stationary bifurcation, the usual Ginzburg-Landau equation for the amplitude of the pattern is then coupled to an equation for the large-scale mode. These amplitude equations show that for certain parameters all roll-type solutions are unstable. This new instability differs from the Eckhaus instability in that it is amplitude-driven and is supercritical. Beyond the stability boundary, there exist stable stationary solutions in the form of strongly modulated patterns. The envelope of these modulations is calculated in terms of Jacobi elliptic functions and, away from the onset of modulation, is closely approximated by a sech profile. Numerical simulations indicate that as the modulation becomes more pronounced, the envelope broadens. A number of applications are considered, including convection with fixed-flux boundaries and convection in a magnetic field, resulting in new instabilities for these systems.

We consider the flow of a viscous incompressible fluid in a parallel-walled channel, driven by steady uniform suction through the porous channel walls. A similarity transformation reduces the Navier-Stokes equations to a single partial differential equation (PDE) for the stream function, with two-point boundary conditions. We discuss the bifurcations of the steady solutions first, and show how a pitchfork bifurcation is unfolded when a symmetry of the problem is broken.Then we describe time-dependent solutions of the governing PDE, which we calculate numerically. We analyse these unsteady solutions when there is a high rate of suction through one wall, and the other wall is impermeable: there is a limit cycle composed of an explosive phase of inviscid growth, and a slow viscous decay. The inviscid phase ‘almost’ has a finite-time singularity. We discuss whether solutions of the governing PDE, which are exact solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations, may develop mathematical singularities in a finite time.When the rates of suction at the two walls are equal so that the problem is symmetrical, there is an abrupt transition to chaos, a ‘homoclinic explosion’, in the time-dependent solutions as the Reynolds number is increased. We unfold this transition by perturbing the symmetry, and compare direct numerical integrations of the governing PDE with a recent theory for ‘Lorenz-like’ dynamical systems. The chaos is found to be very sensitive to symmetry breaking.

Topological chaos may be used to generate highly effective laminar mixing in a simple batch stirring device. Boyland, Aref & Stremler (2000) have computed a material stretch rate that holds in a chaotic flow, provided it has appropriate topological properties, irrespective of the details of the flow. Their theoretical approach, while widely applicable, cannot predict the size of the region in which this stretch rate is achieved. Here, we present numerical simulations to support the observation of Boyland et al. that the region of high stretch is comparable with that through which the stirring elements move during operation of the device. We describe a fast technique for computing the velocity field for either inviscid, irrotational or highly viscous flow, which enables accurate numerical simulation of dye advection. We calculate material stretch rates, and find close agreement with those of Boyland et al., irrespective of whether the fluid is modelled as inviscid or viscous, even though there are significant differences between the flow fields generated in the two cases. IntroductionStatic and dynamic mixing devices are important in many industries, e. ) have demonstrated, in an unusual blend of ad hoc experimentation and abstract mathematics, that flows with the topology of certain braids achieve a material stretch rate which can be determined quantitatively, given only the topology of the flow. However, a key feature not predicted by their theoretical considerations is the size of the domain in which this stretch rate is attained. Indeed, according to the theory, this domain may have measure zero, and if this were the case then the theory would have little practical impact. Here we provide numerical results that support the observations of Boyland et al., that the chaotic region is in fact commensurate with the region of fluid through which the stirring elements move during operation of the device. We should make clear at the outset that we use the terminology 'topological chaos' in the same sense as Boyland et al. (2000), to