Edge state in pipe flow experiments

Recent numerical studies suggest that in pipe and related shear flows, the region of phase space separating laminar from turbulent motion is organized by a chaotic attractor, called an edge state, which mediates the transition process. We here confirm the existence of the edge state in laboratory experiments. We observe that it governs the dynamics during the decay of turbulence underlining its potential relevance for turbulence control. In addition we unveil two unstable traveling wave solutions underlying the experimental flow fields. This observation corroborates earlier suggestions that unstable solutions organize turbulence and its stability border.