Abstract

In this article we review the conditions for the appearance of localized states in a nonlinear optical system, with particular reference to the liquid crystal light valve (LCLV) experiment. The localized structures here described are of dissipative type; that is, they represent the localized solutions of a pattern-forming system. We discuss their features of stable addressable localized states, and we show that they dispose themselves on the nodes of highly symmetric lattices, as obtained by the introduction of an N-order rotation angle in the optical feedback loop. The stability is lost either on increase of the input light intensity or by the introduction of an extra small angle of rotation. The complex spatio-temporal dynamics that follows is characterized by oscillations in the position of the localized states. We discuss the origin of this permanent dynamics in relation to the non-variational character of the LCLV system, underlining the general character of such complex behaviours of localized states.