Spatial localization beyond steady states in the neighbourhood of the Takens–Bogdanov bifurcation

Double-zero eigenvalues at a Takens–Bogdanov (TB) bifurcation occur in many physical systems such as double-diffusive convection, binary convection and magnetoconvection. Analysis of the associated normal form, in 1D with periodic boundary condition, shows the existence of steady patterns, standing waves, modulated waves (MW) and travelling waves, and describes the transitions and bifurcations between these states. Values of coefficients of the terms in the normal form classify all possible different bifurcation scenarios in the neighbourhood of the TB bifurcation (Dangelmayr, G. & Knobloch, E. (1987) The Takens–Bogdanov bifurcation with O(2)-symmetry. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, 322, 243-279). In this work we develop a new and simple pattern-forming partial differential equation (PDE) model, based on the Swift–Hohenberg equation, adapted to have the TB normal form at onset. This model allows us to explore the dynamics in a wide range of bifurcation scenarios, including in domains much wider than the lengthscale of the pattern. We identify two bifurcation scenarios in which coexistence between different types of solutions is indicated from the analysis of the normal form equation. In these scenarios, we look for spatially localized solutions by examining pattern formation in wide domains. We are able to recover two types of localized states, that of a localized steady state (LSS) in the background of the trivial state (TS) and that of a spatially localized travelling wave (LTW) in the background of the TS, which have previously been observed in other systems. Additionally, we identify two new types of spatially localized states: that of a LSS in a MW background and that of a LTW in a steady state (SS) background. The PDE model is easy to solve numerically in large domains and so will allow further investigation of pattern formation with a TB bifurcation in one or more dimensions and the exploration of a range of background and foreground pattern combinations beyond SSs.