Existence of orthogonal domain walls in B{é}nard-Rayleigh convection

Abstract

In B{é}nard-Rayleigh convection we consider the pattern defect in orthogonal domain walls connecting a set of convective rolls with another set of rolls orthogonal to the first set. This is understood as an heteroclinic orbit of a reversible system where the x-coordinate plays the role of time. This appears as a perturbation of the heteroclinic orbit proved to exist in a reduced 6-dimensional system studied by a variational method in [3], and studied analytically in [10]. We then prove for a given amplitude, and an imposed symmetry in coordinate y, the existence of a one parameter family of heteroclinic connections between orthogonal sets of rolls, with wave numbers (different in general) which are linked to an adapted ''shift'' of rolls parallel to the wall.