Wavelength selection in traveling-wave convection in a fluid mixture

The mechanisms by which a one-dimensional pattern of traveling waves changes wavelength (i.e. the Eckhaus instability) is studied in a binary fluid mixture. Propagating wavelength modulations develop when the Rayleigh number of the system is decreased below a wavelength-dependent threshold, commonly referred to as the Eckhaus boundary. These wavelength modulations increase in amplitude and narrow in spatial extent until they trigger the creation or annihilation of convection roll pairs and thereby change the average wavelength of the system. The authors find qualitatively different dynamics for wavelength-increasing events and wavelength-decreasing events; these differences are due to the strong wavelength dependence of the group velocity