  We report the theoretical and experimental demonstration of pattern formation
in acoustics. The system is an acoustic resonator containing a viscous fluid.
When the system is driven by an external periodic force, the ultrasonic field
inside the cavity experiences different pattern-forming instabilities leading
to the emergence of periodic structures. The system is also shown to possess
bistable regimes, in which localized states of the ultrasonic field develop.
The thermal nonlinearity in the viscous fluid, together with the
far-from-equilibrium conditions, are is the responsible of the observed
effects.
