Transient spatio-temporal chaos in the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation on long domains

Numerical simulations of the complex Ginzburg–Landau equation in one spatial dimension on periodic domains with sufficiently large spatial period reveal persistent chaotic dynamics in large parts of parameter space that extend into the Benjamin–Feir stable regime. This situation changes when nonperiodic boundary conditions are imposed, and in the Benjamin–Feir stable regime chaos takes the form of a long-lived transient decaying to a spatially uniform oscillatory state. The lifetime of the transient has Poisson statistics and no domain length is found sufficient for persistent chaos.