Phi-four solitary waves in a parabolic potentia: existence, stability, and collisional dynamics

We explore a φ4 model with an added external parabolic potential term. This term dramatically alters the spectral properties of the system. We identify single and multiple kink solutions and examine their stability features; importantly, all of the stationary structures turn out to be unstable. We complement these with a dynamical study of the evolution of a single kink in the trap, as well as of the scattering of kink and anti-kink solutions of the model. We observe that some of the key characteristics of kink-antikink collisions, such as the critical velocity and the multi-bounce windows, are sensitively dependent on the trap strength parameter, as well as the initial displacement of the kink and antikink.Accepted manuscrip

Breather lattice and its stabilization for the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation

We obtain an exact solution for the breather lattice solution of the modified Korteweg-de Vries (MKdV) equation. Numerical simulation of the breather lattice demonstrates its instability due to the breather-breather interaction. However, such multi-breather structures can be stabilized through the concurrent application of ac driving and viscous damping terms.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. E (in press

On the Emergence of Unstable Modes in an Expanding Domain for Energy-Conserving Wave Equations

Motivated by recent work on instabilities in expanding domains in reaction-diffusion settings, we propose an analog of such mechanisms in energy-conserving wave equations. In particular, we consider a nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation in a finite domain and show how the expansion or contraction of the domain, under appropriate conditions, can destabilize its originally stable solutions through the modulational instability mechanism. Using both real and Fourier spacediagnostics, we monitor and control the crossing of the instability threshold and, hence, the activation of the instability. We also consider how the manifestation of this mechanism is modified in a spatially inhomogeneous setting, namely in the presence of an external parabolic potential, which is relevant to trapped Bose-Einstein condensates

On a Class of Spatial Discretizations of Equations of the Nonlinear Schrodinger Type

We demonstrate the systematic derivation of a class of discretizations of nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger (NLS) equations for general polynomial nonlinearity whose stationary solutions can be found from a reduced two-point algebraic condition. We then focus on the cubic problem and illustrate how our class of models compares with the well-known discretizations such as the standard discrete NLS equation, or the integrable variant thereof. We also discuss the conservation laws of the derived generalizations of the cubic case, such as the lattice momentum or mass and the connection with their corresponding continuum siblings.Comment: Submitted for publication in a journal on October 14, 200

Solitons in Triangular and Honeycomb Dynamical Lattices with the Cubic Nonlinearity

We study the existence and stability of localized states in the discrete nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger equation (DNLS) on two-dimensional non-square lattices. The model includes both the nearest-neighbor and long-range interactions. For the fundamental strongly localized soliton, the results depend on the coordination number, i.e., on the particular type of the lattice. The long-range interactions additionally destabilize the discrete soliton, or make it more stable, if the sign of the interaction is, respectively, the same as or opposite to the sign of the short-range interaction. We also explore more complicated solutions, such as twisted localized modes (TLM's) and solutions carrying multiple topological charge (vortices) that are specific to the triangular and honeycomb lattices. In the cases when such vortices are unstable, direct simulations demonstrate that they turn into zero-vorticity fundamental solitons.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, Phys. Rev.

Two-soliton collisions in a near-integrable lattice system

We examine collisions between identical solitons in a weakly perturbed Ablowitz-Ladik (AL) model, augmented by either onsite cubic nonlinearity (which corresponds to the Salerno model, and may be realized as an array of strongly overlapping nonlinear optical waveguides), or a quintic perturbation, or both. Complex dependences of the outcomes of the collisions on the initial phase difference between the solitons and location of the collision point are observed. Large changes of amplitudes and velocities of the colliding solitons are generated by weak perturbations, showing that the elasticity of soliton collisions in the AL model is fragile (for instance, the Salerno's perturbation with the relative strength of 0.08 can give rise to a change of the solitons' amplitudes by a factor exceeding 2). Exact and approximate conservation laws in the perturbed system are examined, with a conclusion that the small perturbations very weakly affect the norm and energy conservation, but completely destroy the conservation of the lattice momentum, which is explained by the absence of the translational symmetry in generic nonintegrable lattice models. Data collected for a very large number of collisions correlate with this conclusion. Asymmetry of the collisions (which is explained by the dependence on the location of the central point of the collision relative to the lattice, and on the phase difference between the solitons) is investigated too, showing that the nonintegrability-induced effects grow almost linearly with the perturbation strength. Different perturbations (cubic and quintic ones) produce virtually identical collision-induced effects, which makes it possible to compensate them, thus finding a special perturbed system with almost elastic soliton collisions.Comment: Phys. Rev. E, in pres

Wannier functions analysis of the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation with a periodic potential

In the present Letter we use the Wannier function basis to construct lattice approximations of the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation with a periodic potential. We show that the nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation with a periodic potential is equivalent to a vector lattice with long-range interactions. For the case-example of the cosine potential we study the validity of the so-called tight-binding approximation i.e., the approximation when nearest neighbor interactions are dominant. The results are relevant to Bose-Einstein condensate theory as well as to other physical systems like, for example, electromagnetic wave propagation in nonlinear photonic crystals.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev.

On the nonexistence of degenerate phase-shift multibreathers in Klein-Gordon models with interactions beyond nearest neighbors

In this work, we study the existence of, low amplitude, phase-shift multibreathers for small values of the linear coupling in KleinGordon chains with interactions beyond the classical nearest-neighbor (NN) ones. In the proper parameter regimes, the considered lattices bear connections to models beyond one spatial dimension, namely the so-called zigzag lattice, as well as the two-dimensional square lattice or coupled chains. We examine initially the necessary persistence conditions of the system derived by the so-called Effective Hamiltonian Method, in order to seek for unperturbed solutions whose continuation is feasible. Although this approach provides useful insights, in the presence of degeneracy, it does not allow us to determine if they constitute true solutions of our system. In order to overcome this obstacle, we follow a different route. By means of a Lyapunov-Schmidt decomposition, we are able to establish that the bifurcation equation for our models can be considered, in the small energy and small coupling regime, as a perturbation of a corresponding, beyond nearest-neighbor, discrete nonlinear Schr\ua8odinger equation. There, nonexistence results of degenerate phase-shift discrete solitons can be demonstrated by an additional Lyapunov-Schmidt decomposition, and translated to our original problem on the Klein-Gordon system. In this way, among other results, we can prove nonexistence of four-sites vortex-like waveforms in the zigzag Klein-Gordon model. Finally, briefly considering a one-dimensional model bearing similarities to the square lattice, we conclude that the above strategy is not efficient for the proof of the existence or nonexistence of vortices due to the higher degeneracy of this configuration

Discrete Nonlinear Schrodinger Equations Free of the Peierls-Nabarro Potential

We derive a class of discrete nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger (DNLS) equations for general polynomial nonlinearity whose stationary solutions can be found from a reduced two-point algebraic problem. It is demonstrated that the derived class of discretizations contains subclasses conserving classical norm or a modified norm and classical momentum. These equations are interesting from the physical standpoint since they support stationary discrete solitons free of the Peierls-Nabarro potential. As a consequence, even in highly-discrete regimes, solitons are not trapped by the lattice and they can be accelerated by even weak external fields. Focusing on the cubic nonlinearity we then consider a small perturbation around stationary soliton solutions and, solving corresponding eigenvalue problem, we (i) demonstrate that solitons are stable; (ii) show that they have two additional zero-frequency modes responsible for their effective translational invariance; (iii) derive semi-analytical solutions for discrete solitons moving at slow speed. To highlight the unusual properties of solitons in the new discrete models we compare them with that of the classical DNLS equation giving several numerical examples.Comment: Misprints noticed in the journal publication are corrected [in Eq. (1) and Eq. (34)

Feedback Loops Between Fields and Underlying Space Curvature: an Augmented Lagrangian Approach

We demonstrate a systematic implementation of coupling between a scalar field and the geometry of the space (curve, surface, etc.) which carries the field. This naturally gives rise to a feedback mechanism between the field and the geometry. We develop a systematic model for the feedback in a general form, inspired by a specific implementation in the context of molecular dynamics (the so-called Rahman-Parrinello molecular dynamics, or RP-MD). We use a generalized Lagrangian that allows for the coupling of the space's metric tensor (the first fundamental form) to the scalar field, and add terms motivated by RP-MD. We present two implementations of the scheme: one in which the metric is only time-dependent [which gives rise to ordinary differential equation (ODE) for its temporal evolution], and one with spatio-temporal dependence [wherein the metric's evolution is governed by a partial differential equation (PDE)]. Numerical results are reported for the (1+1)-dimensional model with a nonlinearity of the sine-Gordon type.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. E in pres