Phase defects as a measure of disorder in traveling-wave convection

Spatiotemporal disorder is studied in traveling-wave convection in an ethanol-water mixture. A technique for calculating the complex order parameter of the pattern is described, and the identification of phase defects is demonstrated. Point defects, domain boundaries, and standing wave patterns are shown to produce unique defect structures. The transition from a disordered state to a more ordered pattern is described in terms of the dynamics of defects and their statistics.