Penta-hepta defect chaos in a model for rotating hexagonal convection.

In a model for rotating non-Boussinesq convection with mean flow, we identify a regime of spatiotemporal chaos that is based on a hexagonal planform and is sustained by the induced nucleation of dislocations by penta-hepta defects. The probability distribution function for the number of defects deviates substantially from the usually observed Poisson-type distribution. It implies strong correlations between the defects in the form of density-dependent creation and annihilation rates of defects. We extract these rates from the distribution function and also directly from the defect dynamics.