Spontaneous pattern formation in nonlinear dissipative systems far from equilibrium occurs in a variety of settings in nature and technology, and has applications ranging from nonlinear optics through solid and fluid mechanics, physical chemistry and chemical engineering to biology. This book explores the forefront of current research, describing in-depth the analytical methods that elucidate the complex evolution of nonlinear dissipative systems.

Spontaneous pattern formation in nonlinear dissipative systems far from equilibrium occurs in a variety of settings in nature and technology, and has applications ranging from nonlinear optics through solid and fluid mechanics, physical chemistry and chemical engineering to biology. This book explores the forefront of current research, describing in-depth the analytical methods that elucidate the complex evolution of nonlinear dissipative systems.

Spontaneous pattern formation in nonlinear dissipative systems far from equilibrium is a paradigmatic case of emergent behaviour associated with complex systems. It is encountered in a great variety of settings, both in nature and technology, and has numerous applications ranging from nonlinear optics through solid and fluid mechanics, physical chemistry and chemical engineering to biology. This book is a first-hand account by one of the leading players in this field, which gives in-depth descriptions of analytical methods elucidating the complex evolution of nonlinear dissipative systems, and brings the reader to the forefront of current research. Since the publication of the first edition, applications of the theory of nonlinear dynamics have been substantially extended to the novel area of active systems, largely motivated by problems of biophysics and biomorphic technology. These problems typically involve media with internal orientation. This new edition incorporates a chapter discussing dynamics of liquids and soft solids with internal orientation, including special features of their instabilities and motion of topological defects, which form the background for various applications to the motion of cells, tissues, and activated soft materials. The contents of the first edition have also been substantially reworked, improving graphics, emphasizing more complex secondary instabilities, and dropping some material pertaining to dynamical systems. This book caters for graduate students and young researchers from many pertinent areas including applied mathematics, physical chemistry, chemical engineering and biophysics, as well as the seasoned scientist in search of a modern source of reference.

The book deals with modern methods of nonlinear stability theory applied to problems of continuous media mechanics in the presence of interfaces, with applications to materials science, chemical engineering, heat transfer technologies, as well as in combustion and other reaction-diffusion systems. Interfaces play a dominant role at small scales, and their correct modeling is therefore also crucial in the rapidly expanding fields of microfluidics and nanotechnologies. To this aim, the book combines contributions of eminent specialists in the field, with a special emphasis on rigorous and predictive approaches. Other goals of this volume are to allow the reader to identify key problems of high scientific value, and to see the similarity between a variety of seemingly different physical problems.

This book presents recent advances, new ideas and novel techniques related to the field of nonlinear dynamics, including localized pattern formation, self-organization and chaos. Various natural systems ranging from nonlinear optics to mechanics, fluids and magnetic are considered. The aim of this book is to gather specialists from these various fields of research to promote cross-fertilization and transfer of knowledge between these active research areas. In particular, nonlinear optics and laser physics constitute an important part in this issue due to the potential applications for all-optical control of light, optical storage, and information processing. Other possible applications include the generation of ultra-short pulses using all-fiber cavities.

Understanding the spontaneous formation and dynamics of spatiotemporal patterns in dissipative nonequilibrium systems is one of the major challenges in nonlinear science. This collection of expository papers and advanced research articles, written by leading experts, provides an overview of the state of the art. The topics include new approaches to the mathematical characterization of spatiotemporal complexity, with special emphasis on the role of symmetry, as well as analysis and experiments of patterns in a remarkable variety of applied fields such as magnetoconvection, liquid crystals, granular media, Faraday waves, multiscale biological patterns, visual hallucinations, and biological pacemakers. The unitary presentations, guiding the reader from basic fundamental concepts to the most recent research results on each of the themes, make the book suitable for a wide audience.