Abstract

The periodic patterns observed in many pattern forming systems are built from up to three spatial modes. Quasiperiodic structures built from more modes have recently been observed in a capillary wave Faraday system. This type of structures has also been observed in an optical system after introducing a discrete rotational symmetry. In a mathematical discussion of the patterns to be expected from symmetry arguments, periodic patterns built from more than three modes have been found which are generalized squares or hexagons [1]. Here we report on the observation of these patterns, in addition to the observation of quasiperiodic patterns in an optical system with continuous rotational symmetry.

© 1998 IEEE