Localization of Waves without Bistability: Worms in Nematic Electroconvection

A general localization mechanism for waves in dissipative systems is identified that does not require the bistability of the basic state and the nonlinear plane-wave state. We conjecture that the mechanism explains the two-dimensional localized wave structures (``worms'') that recently have been observed in experiments on electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals where the transition to extended waves is supercritical. The mechanism accounts for the shape of the worms, their propagation direction, and certain aspects of their interaction. The dynamics of the localized waves can be steady or irregular.