Symmetries, non-Euclidean metrics, and patterns in a Swift–Hohenberg model of the visual cortex

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the shift-twist symmetry on pattern formation processes in the visual cortex. First, we describe a generic set of Riemannian metrics of the feature space of orientation preference that obeys properties of the shift-twist, translation, and reflection symmetries. Second, these metrics are embedded in a modified Swift–Hohenberg model. As a result we get a pattern formation process that resembles the pattern formation process in the visual cortex. We focus on the final stable patterns that are regular and periodic. In a third step we analyze the influences on pattern formation using weakly nonlinear theory and mode analysis. We compare the results of the present approach with earlier models.