Heteroclinic dynamics in a model of Faraday waves in a square container

Abstract

We study periodic orbits associated with heteroclinic bifurcations in a model of the Faraday system for containers with square cross-section and single-frequency forcing. These periodic orbits correspond to quasiperiodic surface waves in the physical system. The heteroclinic bifurcations are related to a continuum of heteroclinic connections in the integrable Hamiltonian limit, some of which persist in the presence of small damping. The dynamics in the neighborhood of one of the heteroclinic bifurcations are examined in detail using approximate Poincaré maps, with predictions that agree with numerical computations. The results suggest a great richness of possible dynamics of Faraday waves even in simple geometries and with single-frequency forcing.