Localized structures and localized patterns in optical bistability

We study numerically a Swift-Hohenberg equation describing, in the weak dispersion limit, nascent optical bistability with transverse effects. We predict that stable localized structures, and organized clusters of them, may form in the transverse plane. These structures consist of either kinks or dips. The number and spatial distribution of these localized structures are determined by the initial conditions while their peak (bottom) intensity remains essentially constant for fixed values of the system’s parameters.