Results of an experimental study of a Hopf bifurcation with broken translation symmetry that organizes chaotic homoclinic dynamics from a $T^2$ torus in a fluid flow as a direct consequence of physical boundaries are presented. It is shown that the central features of the theory of Hopf bifurcation in O(2)-symmetric systems where the translation symmetry is broken are robust and are appropriate to describe the appearance of modulated waves, homoclinic bifurcation, Takens-Bogdanov point, and chaotic dynamics in a fluid flow experiment.

• Received 13 April 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.046209