Transition to space-time chaos in an optical loop with translational transport.
We describe the transition from regular patterns to space-time chaos in an optical system with nonlocal feedback. The nonlocality introduced breaks the rotational symmetry of the system, resulting in a scenario for the transition from regular patterns to a disordered dynamics. The different regimes are characterized both in terms of spatial and temporal correlation functions, and by means of a Kahrunen-Loeve decomposition. This allows the determination of the structures participating in the dynamics, and an estimation of the active degrees of freedom versus the control parameter.
Istituto Nazionale di Ottica Applicata, Largo Enrico Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy.
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Pastur
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Bortolozzo
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Ramazza