(1) Dept. of Physics and Applied Mathematics, Universidad de Navarra, 31080 Pamplona, Spain, ES;(2) Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Largo E. Fermi 6, 50125 Firenze, Italy, IT
Abstract:
The formation and stabilization of spatio-temporal patterns in an annular CO2 laser is studied. We give experimental and numerical evidence of the role of a small spatial perturbation (consisting of a thin metallic wire inserted in the optical cavity) in the selection and stabilization of patterns. Received 15 December 1999