Topological transition between disordered patterns through heating rate-induced defect emergence

• Published in: Chaos, solitons and fractals solitons and fractals, 2024-03, Vol.180, p.114508, Article 114508
• Main Authors: Fernandez-Gonzalez, Victor, Echeverría-Alar, Sebastián, Vergara, Jorge, Hidalgo, Paulina I., Clerc, Marcel G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chirality; Liquid crystals; Nonlinear dynamics; Pattern formation; Process dependency; Topological transitions
• ISSN: 0960-0779; 1873-2887
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chaos.2024.114508

Macroscopic systems can exhibit disordered patterns, such as fingerprints, vegetation patterns, and dendrites, which have topological defects that characterize the pattern richness, but their self-organization is unknown. Here, we investigate the formation mechanisms, defect emergence, and topological transition between disordered patterns driven by the heating rate. Based on a thermally driven chiral nematic liquid crystal experiment, we identified the coexistence of two different types of patterns at the same temperature but different heating rates. A supercritical transition is revealed by measuring the density of pattern defects. The pairwise correlation length also suggests this transition. Theoretically, we account for this transition based on an amplitude equation with a chiral term that is valid close to the winding/unwinding transition. Likewise, a prototype model of pattern formation exhibits a similar transition, showing that the transition is universal and could be observed in magnetic, optical, fluid, chemical, and ecological systems. •Heating rate variation reveals topological transition in liquid crystal experiment.•Theoretical validation of the transition via an amplitude equation with a chiral term.•Prototype model shows universality of observed transition.