Oscillatory long-wave Marangoni convection in a layer of a binary liquid: hexagonal patterns.

We consider a long-wave oscillatory Marangoni convection in a layer of a binary liquid in the presence of the Soret effect. A weakly nonlinear analysis is carried out on a hexagonal lattice. It is shown that the derived set of cubic amplitude equations is degenerate. A three-parameter family of asynchronous hexagons (AH), representing a superposition of three standing waves with the amplitudes depending on their phase shifts, is found to be stable in the framework of this set of equations. To determine a dominant stable pattern within this family of patterns, we proceed to the inclusion of the fifth-order terms. It is shown that depending on the Soret number, either wavy rolls 2 (WR2), which represents a pattern descendant of wavy rolls (WR) family, are selected or no stable limit cycles exist. A heteroclinic cycle emerges in the latter case: the system is alternately attracted to and repelled from each of three unstable solutions.