1,187 research outputs found
Signatures of classical bifurcations in the quantum scattering resonances of dissociating molecules
A study is reported of the quantum scattering resonances of dissociating
molecules using a semiclassical approach based on periodic-orbit theory. The
dynamics takes place on a potential energy surface with an energy barrier
separating two channels of dissociation. Above the barrier, the unstable
symmetric-stretch periodic orbit may undergo a supercritical pitchfork
bifurcation, leading to a classically chaotic regime. Signatures of the
bifurcation appear in the spectrum of resonances, which have a shorter lifetime
than classically expected. A method is proposed to evaluate semiclassically the
energy and lifetime of the quantum resonances in this intermediate regime
Symmetry-breaking transitions in networks of nonlinear circuit elements
We investigate a nonlinear circuit consisting of N tunnel diodes in series,
which shows close similarities to a semiconductor superlattice or to a neural
network. Each tunnel diode is modeled by a three-variable FitzHugh-Nagumo-like
system. The tunnel diodes are coupled globally through a load resistor. We find
complex bifurcation scenarios with symmetry-breaking transitions that generate
multiple fixed points off the synchronization manifold. We show that multiply
degenerate zero-eigenvalue bifurcations occur, which lead to multistable
current branches, and that these bifurcations are also degenerate with a Hopf
bifurcation. These predicted scenarios of multiple branches and degenerate
bifurcations are also found experimentally.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, 7 movies available as ancillary file
Multi-site breathers in Klein-Gordon lattices: stability, resonances, and bifurcations
We prove the most general theorem about spectral stability of multi-site
breathers in the discrete Klein-Gordon equation with a small coupling constant.
In the anti-continuum limit, multi-site breathers represent excited
oscillations at different sites of the lattice separated by a number of "holes"
(sites at rest). The theorem describes how the stability or instability of a
multi-site breather depends on the phase difference and distance between the
excited oscillators. Previously, only multi-site breathers with adjacent
excited sites were considered within the first-order perturbation theory. We
show that the stability of multi-site breathers with one-site holes change for
large-amplitude oscillations in soft nonlinear potentials. We also discover and
study a symmetry-breaking (pitchfork) bifurcation of one-site and multi-site
breathers in soft quartic potentials near the points of 1:3 resonance.Comment: 34 pages, 12 figure
Thermosolutal and binary fluid convection as a 2 x 2 matrix problem
We describe an interpretation of convection in binary fluid mixtures as a
superposition of thermal and solutal problems, with coupling due to advection
and proportional to the separation parameter S. Many properties of binary fluid
convection are then consequences of generic properties of 2 x 2 matrices. The
eigenvalues of 2 x 2 matrices varying continuously with a parameter r undergo
either avoided crossing or complex coalescence, depending on the sign of the
coupling (product of off-diagonal terms). We first consider the matrix
governing the stability of the conductive state. When the thermal and solutal
gradients act in concert (S>0, avoided crossing), the growth rates of
perturbations remain real and of either thermal or solutal type. In contrast,
when the thermal and solutal gradients are of opposite signs (S<0, complex
coalescence), the growth rates become complex and are of mixed type.
Surprisingly, the kinetic energy of nonlinear steady states is governed by an
eigenvalue problem very similar to that governing the growth rates. There is a
quantitative analogy between the growth rates of the linear stability problem
for infinite Prandtl number and the amplitudes of steady states of the minimal
five-variable Veronis model for arbitrary Prandtl number. For positive S,
avoided crossing leads to a distinction between low-amplitude solutal and
high-amplitude thermal regimes. For negative S, the transition between real and
complex eigenvalues leads to the creation of branches of finite amplitude, i.e.
to saddle-node bifurcations. The codimension-two point at which the saddle-node
bifurcations disappear, separating subcritical from supercritical pitchfork
bifurcations, is exactly analogous to the Bogdanov codimension-two point at
which the Hopf bifurcations disappear in the linear problem
Bifurcation analysis of a normal form for excitable media: Are stable dynamical alternans on a ring possible?
We present a bifurcation analysis of a normal form for travelling waves in
one-dimensional excitable media. The normal form which has been recently
proposed on phenomenological grounds is given in form of a differential delay
equation. The normal form exhibits a symmetry preserving Hopf bifurcation which
may coalesce with a saddle-node in a Bogdanov-Takens point, and a symmetry
breaking spatially inhomogeneous pitchfork bifurcation. We study here the Hopf
bifurcation for the propagation of a single pulse in a ring by means of a
center manifold reduction, and for a wave train by means of a multiscale
analysis leading to a real Ginzburg-Landau equation as the corresponding
amplitude equation. Both, the center manifold reduction and the multiscale
analysis show that the Hopf bifurcation is always subcritical independent of
the parameters. This may have links to cardiac alternans which have so far been
believed to be stable oscillations emanating from a supercritical bifurcation.
We discuss the implications for cardiac alternans and revisit the instability
in some excitable media where the oscillations had been believed to be stable.
In particular, we show that our condition for the onset of the Hopf bifurcation
coincides with the well known restitution condition for cardiac alternans.Comment: to be published in Chao
Multistability and nonsmooth bifurcations in the quasiperiodically forced circle map
It is well-known that the dynamics of the Arnold circle map is phase-locked
in regions of the parameter space called Arnold tongues. If the map is
invertible, the only possible dynamics is either quasiperiodic motion, or
phase-locked behavior with a unique attracting periodic orbit. Under the
influence of quasiperiodic forcing the dynamics of the map changes
dramatically. Inside the Arnold tongues open regions of multistability exist,
and the parameter dependency of the dynamics becomes rather complex. This paper
discusses the bifurcation structure inside the Arnold tongue with zero rotation
number and includes a study of nonsmooth bifurcations that happen for large
nonlinearity in the region with strange nonchaotic attractors.Comment: 25 pages, 22 colored figures in reduced quality, submitted to Int. J.
of Bifurcation and Chaos, a supplementary website
(http://www.mpipks-dresden.mpg.de/eprint/jwiersig/0004003/) is provide
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