Faraday Wave Pattern Selection Via Multi-Frequency Forcing

We use symmetry considerations to investigate how damped modes affect pattern selection in multi-frequency forced Faraday waves. We classify and tabulate the most important damped modes and determine how the corresponding resonant triad interactions depend on the forcing parameters. The relative phase of the forcing terms may be used to enhance or suppress the nonlinear interactions. We compare our predictions with numerical results and discuss their implications for recent experiments. Our results suggest how to design multi-frequency forcing functions that favor chosen patterns in the lab.