Dispersive chaos in one-dimensional traveling-wave convection

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Abstract
We report experiments on weakly nonlinear traveling-wave convection in an annular cell. The evolution of small-amplitude waves consists of the repetitive formation and sudden collapse of spatially localized pulses. This leads to continuously erratic dynamics with no stable saturated state, even near onset, and even when convection begins with a unidirectional, nearly spatially uniform state. Such behavior is reminiscent of simulations of the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation in the limit of strong nonlinear dispersion.