Transition to space-time chaos in an optical loop with translational transport

We describe the transition from regular patterns to space-time chaos in an optical system with nonlocal feedback. The nonlocality introduced breaks the rotational symmetry of the system, resulting in a scenario for the transition from regular patterns to a disordered dynamics. The different regimes are characterized both in terms of spatial and temporal correlation functions, and by means of a Kahrunen-Loeve decomposition. This allows the determination of the structures participating in the dynamics, and an estimation of the active degrees of freedom versus the control parameter.