Emergence of the bifurcation structure of a Langmuir-Blodgett transfer model

Abstract: We explore the bifurcation structure of a modified Cahn-Hilliard equation that describes a system that may undergo a first order phase transition and is kept permanently out of equilibrium by a lateral driving. This forms a simple model, e.g., for the deposition of stripe patterns of different phases of surfactant molecules through Langmuir-Blodgett transfer. Employing continuation techniques the bifurcation structure is numerically investigated employing the non-dimensional transfer velocity as the main control parameter. It is found that the snaking structure of steady fronts states is intertwined with a large number of branches of time-periodic solutions that emerge from Hopf or period doubling bifurcations and end in global bifurcations (sniper and homoclinic). Overall the bifurcation diagram has a harp-like appearance. This is complemented by a two-parameter study (in non-dimensional transfer velocity and domain size) that elucidates through which local and global codimension 2 bifurcations the entire harp-like structure emerges.