STRONG RESONANCES OF SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED OSCILLATORS - A LABORATORY TO STUDY PATTERNS AND DEFECTS

This paper describes phenomena which arise in a continuous system of coupled oscillators subject to a strongly resonant forcing. We show that the temporal forcing induces a new type of instability, leading to the formation of spatial patterns such as stripes, hexagons and spatio-temporal intermittent states, reminiscent of chemical and magnetical systems. We also report the existence of localized states, where the instability is confined in the core of a defect, leading to an increased mobility and diffusive behaviour of the defect.