Interface dynamics in a three-dimensional coupled map lattice with a period-3 local map is studied. The system possesses a parameter regime where one typically finds three-phase patterns consisting of spatially uniform domains which follow the period-3 cycle and oscillate among the three different phases. The interfaces where these domains meet may exhibit complex irregular dynamics. The system also has a parameter regime of “turbulent” dynamics, which is a chaotic transient with a superexponentially long lifetime. The transition from the three-phase pattern regime to the turbulent regime is studied. As a control parameter is tuned, the interfaces between domains develop turbulent structure. The thickness of the turbulent zone remains finite up to a critical parameter value after which it is infinite. We characterize this “front explosion” transition in three-dimensional systems and compare it with the analogous transition in two-dimensional systems where the critical properties are markedly different. The front explosion in the three-dimensional resonantly-forced complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is also investigated briefly and its character differs from that in the three-dimensional coupled map lattice.

• Received 9 April 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.026203