Localized States in Physics: Solitons and Patterns [Hardcover]

Systems driven far from thermodynamic equilibrium can create dissipative structures through the spontaneous breaking of symmetries. A particularly?fascinating feature of these pattern-forming systems is their tendency to?produce spatially confined states. These localized wave packets can exist as propagating entities through space and/or time.

Various examples of such?systems will be dealt with in this book, including localized states in fluids, chemical reactions on surfaces, neural networks, optical systems, granular systems, population models, and Bose-Einstein condensates.

This book should appeal to all physicists, mathematicians and electrical engineers interested in localization in far-from-equilibrium systems. The authors - all recognized experts in their fields -?strive to achieve a balance between theoretical and experimental considerations thereby giving?an overview of?fascinating physical principles, their manifestations in diverse systems, and the novel?technical applications on the horizon.

This book covers the most interesting and active aspects of localized states in physics, including localized states in fluids, chemical reactions on surfaces, neural networks, optical systems, granular systems, population models, and Bose-Einstein condensates.

?Solitons, Self-confined Light and Optical Turbulence. Ligt Self-trapping in Nematic Liquid Crystals; ?M.A. Karpierz and G. Assanto.- Photonic Plasma Instabilities and Soliton Turbulence in Spatially Incoherent Light; D.V. Dylov and J.W. Fleischer.- Gap-Acoustic Solitons: Slowing and Stopping of Light; R.S.Tasgal et al.- Optical Wave Turbulence and Wave Condensation in a Nonlinear Optical Experiment; J. Laurie et al.- Localized Structures in Pattern Forming Systems. Localized Structures in the Liquid Crystal Light Valve Experiment; U. Bortolozzo et al.- Convectons; A. Alonso et al.- Mlól