Noise-induced traveling waves in electroconvection

We report on ac-driven electroconvection (EC) in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) under superposed multiplicative noise; the EC system consists of a thin layer (d = 10-100 μm) of an NLC in an applied electric field. Ac-driven traveling waves (TWs) have been one of attractive EC showing a Hopf bifurcation, which have been well explained by a weak-electrolyte model. In this paper, noise-induced traveling waves (TWs) are presented in comparison with ac-driven TWs. Moreover, considering one- and two-dimensional EC patterns, TWs are discussed; they reveal the roles of the ac and noise fields for TWs.