American Physical Society, Physical Review Letters, 25(76), p. 4729-4732, 1996
DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.76.4729
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Quasi two-dimensional pattern forming systems with spontaneously broken isotropy represent a novel symmetry class, that is experimentally accessible in electroconvection of homeotropically aligned liquid crystals. We present a weakly nonlinear analysis leading to amplitude equations which couple the short-wavelength patterning mode with the Goldstone mode resulting from the broken isotropy. The new coefficients in these equations are calculated from the hydrodynamics. Simulations exhibit a new type of spatio-temporal chaos at onset. The results are compared with experiments. ; Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 4 PS-figures, to appear in PRL