36 research outputs found
Statistical mechanics of a nonlinear discrete system
Statistical mechanics of the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is
studied by means of analytical and numerical techniques. The lower bound of the
Hamiltonian permits the construction of standard Gibbsian equilibrium measures
for positive temperatures. Beyond the line of , we identify a phase
transition, through a discontinuity in the partition function. The phase
transition is demonstrated to manifest itself in the creation of breather-like
localized excitations. Interrelation between the statistical mechanics and the
nonlinear dynamics of the system is explored numerically in both regimes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
On modulational instability and energy localization in anharmonic lattices at finite energy density
The localization of vibrational energy, induced by the modulational
instability of the Brillouin-zone-boundary mode in a chain of classical
anharmonic oscillators with finite initial energy density, is studied within a
continuum theory. We describe the initial localization stage as a gas of
envelope solitons and explain their merging, eventually leading to a single
localized object containing a macroscopic fraction of the total energy of the
lattice. The initial-energy-density dependences of all characteristic time
scales of the soliton formation and merging are described analytically. Spatial
power spectra are computed and used for the quantitative explanation of the
numerical results.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
Internal localized eigenmodes on spin discrete breathers in antiferromagnetic chains with on-site easy axis anisotropy
We investigate internal localized eigenmodes of the linearized equation
around spin discrete breathers in 1D antiferromagnets with on-site easy axis
anisotropy. The threshold of occurrence of the internal localized eigenmodes
has a typical structure in parameter space depending on the frequency of the
spin discrete breather. We also performed molecular dynamics simulation in
order to show the validity of our linear analysis.Comment: 4 pages including 5 figure
Pattern formation and localization in the forced-damped FPU lattice
We study spatial pattern formation and energy localization in the dynamics of
an anharmonic chain with quadratic and quartic intersite potential subject to
an optical, sinusoidally oscillating field and a weak damping. The
zone-boundary mode is stable and locked to the driving field below a critical
forcing that we determine analytically using an approximate model which
describes mode interactions. Above such a forcing, a standing modulated wave
forms for driving frequencies below the band-edge, while a ``multibreather''
state develops at higher frequencies. Of the former, we give an explicit
approximate analytical expression which compares well with numerical data. At
higher forcing space-time chaotic patterns are observed.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.
Fracture in Mode I using a Conserved Phase-Field Model
We present a continuum phase-field model of crack propagation. It includes a
phase-field that is proportional to the mass density and a displacement field
that is governed by linear elastic theory. Generic macroscopic crack growth
laws emerge naturally from this model. In contrast to classical continuum
fracture mechanics simulations, our model avoids numerical front tracking. The
added phase-field smoothes the sharp interface, enabling us to use equations of
motion for the material (grounded in basic physical principles) rather than for
the interface (which often are deduced from complicated theories or empirical
observations). The interface dynamics thus emerges naturally. In this paper, we
look at stationary solutions of the model, mode I fracture, and also discuss
numerical issues. We find that the Griffith's threshold underestimates the
critical value at which our system fractures due to long wavelength modes
excited by the fracture process.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures (eps). Added 2 figures and some text. Removed one
section (and a figure). To be published in PR
Oscillatory Instabilities of Standing Waves in One-Dimensional Nonlinear Lattices
In one-dimensional anharmonic lattices, we construct nonlinear standing waves
(SWs) reducing to harmonic SWs at small amplitude. For SWs with spatial
periodicity incommensurate with the lattice period, a transition by breaking of
analyticity versus wave amplitude is observed. As a consequence of the
discreteness, oscillatory linear instabilities, persisting for arbitrarily
small amplitude in infinite lattices, appear for all wave numbers Q not equal
to zero or \pi. Incommensurate analytic SWs with |Q|>\pi/2 may however appear
as 'quasi-stable', as their instability growth rate is of higher order.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Quasi-stationary chaotic states in multi-dimensional Hamiltonian systems
We study numerically statistical distributions of sums of chaotic orbit
coordinates, viewed as independent random variables, in weakly chaotic regimes
of three multi-dimensional Hamiltonian systems: Two Fermi-Pasta-Ulam
(FPU-) oscillator chains with different boundary conditions and numbers
of particles and a microplasma of identical ions confined in a Penning trap and
repelled by mutual Coulomb interactions. For the FPU systems we show that, when
chaos is limited within "small size" phase space regions, statistical
distributions of sums of chaotic variables are well approximated for
surprisingly long times (typically up to ) by a -Gaussian
() distribution and tend to a Gaussian () for longer times, as the
orbits eventually enter into "large size" chaotic domains. However, in
agreement with other studies, we find in certain cases that the -Gaussian is
not the only possible distribution that can fit the data, as our sums may be
better approximated by a different so-called "crossover" function attributed to
finite-size effects. In the case of the microplasma Hamiltonian, we make use of
these -Gaussian distributions to identify two energy regimes of "weak
chaos"-one where the system melts and one where it transforms from liquid to a
gas state-by observing where the -index of the distribution increases
significantly above the value of strong chaos.Comment: 32 pages, 13 figures, Submitted for publication to Physica
Energy Relaxation in Nonlinear One-Dimensional Lattices
We study energy relaxation in thermalized one-dimensional nonlinear arrays of
the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam type. The ends of the thermalized systems are placed in
contact with a zero-temperature reservoir via damping forces. Harmonic arrays
relax by sequential phonon decay into the cold reservoir, the lower frequency
modes relaxing first. The relaxation pathway for purely anharmonic arrays
involves the degradation of higher-energy nonlinear modes into lower energy
ones. The lowest energy modes are absorbed by the cold reservoir, but a small
amount of energy is persistently left behind in the array in the form of almost
stationary low-frequency localized modes. Arrays with interactions that contain
both a harmonic and an anharmonic contribution exhibit behavior that involves
the interplay of phonon modes and breather modes. At long times relaxation is
extremely slow due to the spontaneous appearance and persistence of energetic
high-frequency stationary breathers. Breather behavior is further ascertained
by explicitly injecting a localized excitation into the thermalized array and
observing the relaxation behavior
Discrete breathers in dissipative lattices
We study the properties of discrete breathers, also known as intrinsic
localized modes, in the one-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova lattice of
oscillators subject to damping and external force. The system is studied in the
whole range of values of the coupling parameter, from C=0 (uncoupled limit) up
to values close to the continuum limit (forced and damped sine-Gordon model).
As this parameter is varied, the existence of different bifurcations is
investigated numerically. Using Floquet spectral analysis, we give a complete
characterization of the most relevant bifurcations, and we find (spatial)
symmetry-breaking bifurcations which are linked to breather mobility, just as
it was found in Hamiltonian systems by other authors. In this way moving
breathers are shown to exist even at remarkably high levels of discreteness. We
study mobile breathers and characterize them in terms of the phonon radiation
they emit, which explains successfully the way in which they interact. For
instance, it is possible to form ``bound states'' of moving breathers, through
the interaction of their phonon tails. Over all, both stationary and moving
breathers are found to be generic localized states over large values of ,
and they are shown to be robust against low temperature fluctuations.Comment: To be published in Physical Review
Probing rare physical trajectories with Lyapunov weighted dynamics
The transition from order to chaos has been a major subject of research since
the work of Poincare, as it is relevant in areas ranging from the foundations
of statistical physics to the stability of the solar system. Along this
transition, atypical structures like the first chaotic regions to appear, or
the last regular islands to survive, play a crucial role in many physical
situations. For instance, resonances and separatrices determine the fate of
planetary systems, and localised objects like solitons and breathers provide
mechanisms of energy transport in nonlinear systems such as Bose-Einstein
condensates and biological molecules. Unfortunately, despite the fundamental
progress made in the last years, most of the numerical methods to locate these
'rare' trajectories are confined to low-dimensional or toy models, while the
realms of statistical physics, chemical reactions, or astronomy are still hard
to reach. Here we implement an efficient method that allows one to work in
higher dimensions by selecting trajectories with unusual chaoticity. As an
example, we study the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam nonlinear chain in equilibrium and show
that the algorithm rapidly singles out the soliton solutions when searching for
trajectories with low level of chaoticity, and chaotic-breathers in the
opposite situation. We expect the scheme to have natural applications in
celestial mechanics and turbulence, where it can readily be combined with
existing numerical methodsComment: Accepted for publication in Nature Physics. Due to size restrictions,
the figures are not of high qualit