A variational theory for point defects in patterns (Q733762)

The regularized Cross-Newell energy is a variational integral modelling pattern formation for ``striped'' patterns having a certain amount of discrete translational symmetry in one space direction. At a certain threshold, this symmetry is broken. The pattern can deform, and, further away, defects can form. It is this range far from the threshold that is the object of study here. The authors describe a rigorous scaling law for minimizers of the energy. These do support defects that have also been found in experiments as well as in numerical simulations based on microscopic equations for the same system.