Dynamics and bifurcations in the weak electrolyte model for electroconvection of nematic liquid crystals: a Ginzburg–Landau approach

In this paper we present the results of a bifurcation study of the weak electrolyte model for nematic electroconvection, for values of the parameters including experimentally measured values of the nematic I52. The linear stability analysis shows the existence of primary bifurcations of Hopf type, involving normal as well as oblique rolls. The weakly nonlinear analysis is performed using four globally coupled complex Ginzburg–Landau equations for the waves' envelopes. If spatial variations are ignored, these equations reduce to the normal form for a Hopf bifurcation with O(2)×O(2) symmetry. A rich variety of stable waves, as well as more complex spatiotemporal dynamics is predicted at onset. A temporal period doubling route to spatiotemporal chaos, corresponding to a period doubling cascade towards a chaotic attractor in the normal form, is identified. Eckhaus stability boundaries for travelling waves are also determined. The methods developed in this paper provide a systematic investigation of nonlinear physical mechanisms generating the patterns observed experimentally, and can be generalized to any two-dimensional anisotropic systems with translational and reflectional symmetry.