Subharmonic phase clusters in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation with nonlinear global coupling

A wide variety of subharmonic n-phase cluster patterns was observed in experiments with spatially extended chemical and electrochemical oscillators. These patterns cannot be captured with a phase model. We demonstrate that the introduction of a nonlinear global coupling (NGC) in the complex Ginzburg-Landau equation has subharmonic cluster pattern solutions in wide parameter ranges. The NGC introduces a conservation law for the oscillatory state of the homogeneous mode, which describes the strong oscillations of the mean field in the experiments. We show that the NGC causes a pronounced 2:1 self-resonance on any spatial inhomogeneity, leading to two-phase subharmonic clustering, as well as additional higher resonances. Nonequilibrium Ising-Bloch transitions occur as the coupling strength is varied.