Discrete solitons in PT-symmetric lattices

We prove existence of discrete solitons in infinite parity-time (PT-) symmetric lattices by means of analytical continuation from the anticontinuum limit. The energy balance between dissipation and gain implies that in the anticontinuum limit the solitons are constructed from elementary PT-symmetric blocks such as dimers, quadrimers, or more general oligomers. We consider in detail a chain of coupled dimers, analyze bifurcations of discrete solitons from the anticontinuum limit and show that the solitons are stable in a sufficiently large region of the lattice parameters. The generalization of the approach is illustrated on two examples of networks of quadrimers, for which stable discrete solitons are also found.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures; accepted to EPL, www.epletters.ne

Stability of localized modes in PT-symmetric nonlinear potentials

We report on detailed investigation of the stability of localized modes in the nonlinear Schrodinger equations with a nonlinear parity-time (alias PT) symmetric potential. We are particularly focusing on the case where the spatially-dependent nonlinearity is purely imaginary. We compute the Evans function of the linear operator determining the linear stability of localized modes. Results of the Evans function analysis predict that for sufficiently small dissipation localized modes become stable when the propagation constant exceeds certain threshold value. This is the case for periodic and $\tanh$-shaped complex potentials where the modes having widths comparable with or smaller than the characteristic width of the complex potential are stable, while broad modes are unstable. In contrast, in complex potentials that change linearly with transverse coordinate all modes are stable, what suggests that the relation between width of the modes and spatial size of the complex potential define the stability in the general case. These results were confirmed using the direct propagation of the solutions for the mentioned examples.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; accepted to Europhysics Letters, https://www.epletters.net

Small-amplitude excitations in a deformable discrete nonlinear Schroedinger equation

A detailed analysis of the small-amplitude solutions of a deformed discrete nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation is performed. For generic deformations the system possesses "singular" points which split the infinite chain in a number of independent segments. We show that small-amplitude dark solitons in the vicinity of the singular points are described by the Toda-lattice equation while away from the singular points are described by the Korteweg-de Vries equation. Depending on the value of the deformation parameter and of the background level several kinds of solutions are possible. In particular we delimit the regions in the parameter space in which dark solitons are stable in contrast with regions in which bright pulses on nonzero background are possible. On the boundaries of these regions we find that shock waves and rapidly spreading solutions may exist.Comment: 18 pages (RevTex), 13 figures available upon reques

Nonlinear Modulation of Multi-Dimensional Lattice Waves

The equations governing weakly nonlinear modulations of $N$-dimensional lattices are considered using a quasi-discrete multiple-scale approach. It is found that the evolution of a short wave packet for a lattice system with cubic and quartic interatomic potentials is governed by generalized Davey-Stewartson (GDS) equations, which include mean motion induced by the oscillatory wave packet through cubic interatomic interaction. The GDS equations derived here are more general than those known in the theory of water waves because of the anisotropy inherent in lattices. Generalized Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equations describing the evolution of long wavelength acoustic modes in two and three dimensional lattices are also presented. Then the modulational instability of a $N$-dimensional Stokes lattice wave is discussed based on the $N$-dimensional GDS equations obtained. Finally, the one- and two-soliton solutions of two-dimensional GDS equations are provided by means of Hirota's bilinear transformation method.Comment: Submitted to PR

Effected of Feshbach resonance on dynamics of matter waves in optical lattices

Mean-filed dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) loaded in an optical lattice (OL), confined by a parabolic potentials, and subjected to change of a scattering length by means of the Feshbach resonance (FR), is considered. The system is described by the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation with varying nonlinearity, which in a number of cases can be reduced a one-dimensional perturbed nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger (NLS) equation. A particular form of the last one depends on relations among BEC parameters. We describe periodic solutions of the NLS equation and their adiabatic dynamics due to varying nonlinearity; carry out numerical study of the dynamics of the NLS equation with periodic and parabolic trap potentials. We pay special attention to processes of generation of trains of bright and dark matter solitons from initially periodic waves.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures (revised version). to be published in Phys. Rev. A (2005

On dissipationless shock waves in a discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation

It is shown that the generalized discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation can be reduced in a small amplitude approximation to the KdV, mKdV, KdV(2) or the fifth-order KdV equations, depending on values of the parameters. In dispersionless limit these equations lead to wave breaking phenomenon for general enough initial conditions, and, after taking into account small dispersion effects, result in formation of dissipationless shock waves. The Whitham theory of modulations of nonlinear waves is used for analytical description of such waves.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure