Oscillatory and localized perturbations of periodic structures and the bifurcation of defect modes

Let $Q(x)$ denote a periodic function on the real line. The Schr\"odinger operator, $H_Q=-\partial_x^2+Q(x)$, has $L^2(\mathbb{R})-$ spectrum equal to the union of closed real intervals separated by open spectral gaps. In this article we study the bifurcation of discrete eigenvalues (point spectrum) into the spectral gaps for the operator $H_{Q+q_\epsilon}$, where $q_\epsilon$ is spatially localized and highly oscillatory in the sense that its Fourier transform, $\widehat{q}_\epsilon$ is concentrated at high frequencies. Our assumptions imply that $q_\epsilon$ may be pointwise large but $q_\epsilon$ is small in an average sense. For the special case where $q_\epsilon(x)=q(x,x/\epsilon)$ with $q(x,y)$ smooth, real-valued, localized in $x$, and periodic or almost periodic in $y$, the bifurcating eigenvalues are at a distance of order $\epsilon^4$ from the lower edge of the spectral gap. We obtain the leading order asymptotics of the bifurcating eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. Underlying this bifurcation is an effective Hamiltonian associated with the lower edge of the $(b_*)^{\rm th}$ spectral band: $H^\epsilon_{\rm eff}=-\partial_x A_{b_*,\rm eff}\partial_x - \epsilon^2 B_{b_*,\rm eff} \times \delta(x)$ where $\delta(x)$ is the Dirac distribution, and effective-medium parameters $A_{b_*,\rm eff},B_{b_*,\rm eff}>0$ are explicit and independent of $\epsilon$. The potentials we consider are a natural model for wave propagation in a medium with localized, high-contrast and rapid fluctuations in material parameters about a background periodic medium.Comment: To appear in SIAM Journal on Mathematical Analysi

Nonlinear Analysis of the Eckhaus Instability: Modulated Amplitude Waves and Phase Chaos with Non-zero Average Phase Gradient

We analyze the Eckhaus instability of plane waves in the one-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE) and describe the nonlinear effects arising in the Eckhaus unstable regime. Modulated amplitude waves (MAWs) are quasi-periodic solutions of the CGLE that emerge near the Eckhaus instability of plane waves and cease to exist due to saddle-node bifurcations (SN). These MAWs can be characterized by their average phase gradient $\nu$ and by the spatial period P of the periodic amplitude modulation. A numerical bifurcation analysis reveals the existence and stability properties of MAWs with arbitrary $\nu$ and P. MAWs are found to be stable for large enough $\nu$ and intermediate values of P. For different parameter values they are unstable to splitting and attractive interaction between subsequent extrema of the amplitude. Defects form from perturbed plane waves for parameter values above the SN of the corresponding MAWs. The break-down of phase chaos with average phase gradient $\nu$ > 0 (``wound-up phase chaos'') is thus related to these SNs. A lower bound for the break-down of wound-up phase chaos is given by the necessary presence of SNs and an upper bound by the absence of the splitting instability of MAWs.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figure

Bifurcations and stability of gap solitons in periodic potentials

We analyze the existence, stability, and internal modes of gap solitons in nonlinear periodic systems described by the nonlinear Schrodinger equation with a sinusoidal potential, such as photonic crystals, waveguide arrays, optically-induced photonic lattices, and Bose-Einstein condensates loaded onto an optical lattice. We study bifurcations of gap solitons from the band edges of the Floquet-Bloch spectrum, and show that gap solitons can appear near all lower or upper band edges of the spectrum, for focusing or defocusing nonlinearity, respectively. We show that, in general, two types of gap solitons can bifurcate from each band edge, and one of those two is always unstable. A gap soliton corresponding to a given band edge is shown to possess a number of internal modes that bifurcate from all band edges of the same polarity. We demonstrate that stability of gap solitons is determined by location of the internal modes with respect to the spectral bands of the inverted spectrum and, when they overlap, complex eigenvalues give rise to oscillatory instabilities of gap solitons.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures; updated bibliograph

Complex Patterns in Extended Oscillatory Systems

Ausgedehnte dissipative Systeme können fernab vom thermodynamischen Gleichgewicht instabil gegenüber Oszillationen bzw. Wellen oder raumzeitlichem Chaos werden. Die komplexe Ginzburg-Landau Gleichung (CGLE) stellt ein universelles Modell zur Beschreibung dieser raumzeitlichen Strukturen dar. Diese Arbeit ist der theoretischen Analyse komplexer Muster gewidmet. Mittels numerischer Bifurkations- und Stabilitätsanalyse werden Instabilitäten einfacher Muster identifiziert und neuartige Lösungen der CGLE bestimmt. Modulierte Amplitudenwellen (MAW) und Super-Spiralwellen sind Beispiele solcher komplexer Muster. MAWs können in hydrodynamischen Experimenten und Super-Spiralwellen in der Belousov-Zhabotinsky-Reaktion beobachtet werden. Der Grenzübergang von Phasen- zu Defektchaos wird durch den Existenzbereich der MAWs erklärt. Mittels der selben numerischen Methoden wird Bursting vom Fold-Hopf-Typ in einem Modell der Kalziumsignalübertragung in Zellen identifiziert

Nonlinear dynamics of waves and modulated waves in 1D thermocapillary flows. I: General presentation and periodic solutions

We present experimental results on hydrothermal traveling-waves dynamics in long and narrow 1D channels. The onset of primary traveling-wave patterns is briefly presented for different fluid heights and for annular or bounded channels, i.e., within periodic or non-periodic boundary conditions. For periodic boundary conditions, by increasing the control parameter or changing the discrete mean-wavenumber of the waves, we produce modulated waves patterns. These patterns range from stable periodic phase-solutions, due to supercritical Eckhaus instability, to spatio-temporal defect-chaos involving traveling holes and/or counter-propagating-waves competition, i.e., traveling sources and sinks. The transition from non-linearly saturated Eckhaus modulations to transient pattern-breaks by traveling holes and spatio-temporal defects is documented. Our observations are presented in the framework of coupled complex Ginzburg-Landau equations with additional fourth and fifth order terms which account for the reflection symmetry breaking at high wave-amplitude far from onset. The second part of this paper (nlin.PS/0208030) extends this study to spatially non-periodic patterns observed in both annular and bounded channel.Comment: 45 pages, 21 figures (elsart.cls + AMS extensions). Accepted in Physica D. See also companion paper "Nonlinear dynamics of waves and modulated waves in 1D thermocapillary flows. II: Convective/absolute transitions" (nlin.PS/0208030). A version with high resolution figures is available on N.G. web pag

Localized Breathing Modes in Granular Crystals with Defects

We investigate nonlinear localized modes at light-mass impurities in a one-dimensional, strongly-compressed chain of beads under Hertzian contacts. Focusing on the case of one or two such "defects", we analyze the problem's linear limit to identify the system eigenfrequencies and the linear defect modes. We then examine the bifurcation of nonlinear defect modes from their linear counterparts and study their linear stability in detail. We identify intriguing differences between the case of impurities in contact and ones that are not in contact. We find that the former bears similarities to the single defect case, whereas the latter features symmetry-breaking bifurcations with interesting static and dynamic implications