Oscillon formation as an initial pattern state

Following Venkataramani and Ott [Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 3495 (1998)], we cons ider oscillons (local excitations) as spatiotemporal subcritical bifurcatio n phenomena. We show in a series of numerical experiments that the appearan ce of oscillons is highly dependent on the initial pattern state. This find ing has led to a new patterning mechanism. In this Brief Report we describe the instabilities that govern the mutual interaction of oscillons/extended patterns. [S1063-651X(99)01011-9].