SCALING LAWS FOR LOCALIZED PATTERN-FORMATION IN OPTICAL BISTABILITY

We study the kinetics of transverse pattern formation in a passive rin g cavity containing two-level atoms. Parameters are chosen such that t he Turing instabilities are on the upper and lower branches of a bista ble domain and close to the limit points, so that the interaction betw een the long-wavelength modes includes the homogeneous mode. This lead s to the formation of a localized structure which connects the two sta ble branches of the homogeneous bistable solution. The kinetics of thi s pattern formation is described by simple scaling laws.