DOMAIN SHAPES AND PATTERNS - THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF MODULATED PHASES

A wide variety of two- and three-dimensional physical-chemical systems display domain patterns in equilibrium, The phenomenology of these patterns, and of the shapes of their constituent domains, is reviewed here from a point of view that interprets these patterns as a manifestation of modulated phases, These phases are stabilized by competing interactions and are characterized by periodic spatial variations of the pertinent order parameter, the corresponding modulation period generally displaying a dependence on temperature and other external fields, This simple picture provides a unifying framework to account for striking and substantial similarities revealed in the prevalent ''stripe'' and ''bubble'' morphologies as well as in commonly observed, characteristic domain-shape instabilities. Several areas of particular current interest are discussed,