Stabilization of domain walls between traveling waves by nonlinear mode coupling in Taylor-Couette flow

We present a new mechanism that allows the stable existence of domain walls between oppositely traveling waves in pattern-forming systems far from onset. It involves a nonlinear mode coupling that results directly from the nonlinearities in the underlying momentum balance. Our work provides the first observation and explanation of such strongly nonlinearly driven domain walls that separate structured states by a phase generating or annihilating defect. Furthermore, the influence of a symmetry breaking externally imposed flow on the wave domains and the domain walls is studied. The results are obtained for vortex waves in the Taylor-Couette system by combining numerical simulations of the full Navier-Stokes equations and experimental measurements.