title: Spatial multistability and nonvariational effects.
abstract: We investigate the phenomenon of spatial multistability of fronts in thin bistable systems and stress the important role played by the absence of a variational principle. Nonvariational effects allow, for instance, two different immobilized fronts to coexist. The morphological instability of the corresponding nucleating solution can then lead, even in the absence of any diffusive instability, to nontrivial patterns in the depth of one-side-fed reactors.
authors.affiliation: Service de Chimie-Physique and Center for Nonlinear Phenomena and Complex Systems, Code Postal 231, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bachir
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borckmans
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dewel