Abstract
Experiments on vertically oscillated granular layers in an evacuated container reveal a sequence of well-defined pattern bifurcations as the container acceleration is increased. Period doublings of the layer center of mass motion and a standing wave instability interact to produce hexagons and more complicated patterns composed of distinct spatial domains of different relative phase separated by kinks (phase discontinuities). A simple model displays quantitative agreement with the observed transition sequence.
- Received 17 July 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.3838
©1995 American Physical Society