Oscillations of a highly discrete breather with a critical regime

We analyze carefully the essential features of the dynamics of a stationary discrete breather in the ultimate degree of energy localization in a nonlinear Klein-Gordon lattice with an on-site double-well potential. We demonstrate the existence of three different regimes of oscillatory motion in the breather dynamics, which are closely related to the motion of the central particle in an effective potential having two nondegenerate wells. In given parameter regions, we observe an untrapped regime, in which the central particle executes large-amplitude oscillations from one to the other side of the potential barrier. In other parameter regions, we find the trapped regime, in which the central …

From kinks to compactonlike kinks

We show that, in the continuum limit, the generalized \ensuremath{\Phi}-four or double-well model with nonlinear coupling can exhibit compactonlike kink solutions for some specific velocity regimes and when the nonlinear coupling between pendulums is dominant. Our numerical simulations point out that the static compacton is stable and the dynamic compacton is unstable. Our study is extended to other topological systems where compacton solutions can also be found. A nice feature is that a mechanical analog of the double-well system can be constructed in the form of an experimental lattice of coupled pendulums, which, in the strong coupling limit, allows the observation of these entities.

Solitons in Nonlinear Transmission Lines

Although solitary waves and solitons were originally discovered in the context of water waves and lattice dynamics, consideration of these physical systems (which will be considered in Chaps.5 and 8) leads to calculations far too involved for pedagogical purposes. Thus, for an introduction to the soliton concept, we therefore consider simple wave propagation in electrical nonlinear transmission lines and electrical networks.

Motion of compactonlike kinks.

We analyze the ability of a compactonlike kink (i.e., kink with compact support) to execute a stable ballistic propagation in a discrete Klein-Gordon system with anharmonic coupling. We demonstrate that the effects of lattice discreteness, and the presence of a linear coupling between lattice sites, are detrimental to a stable ballistic propagation of the compacton, because of the particular structure of the small-oscillation frequency spectrum of the compacton in which the lower-frequency internal modes enter in direct resonance with phonon modes. Our study reveals the parameter regions for obtaining a stable ballistic propagation of a compactonlike kink. Finally we investigate the interac…

Nonlinear Schrödinger models and modulational instability in real electrical lattices

International audience; In nonlinear dispersive media, the propagation of modulated waves, such as envelope (bright) solitons or hole (dark) solitons, has been the subject of considerable interest for many years, as for example in nonlinear optics [A.C. Newell and J.V. Moloney, Nonlinear Optics (Addison-Presley, 1991)]. On the other hand, discrete electrical transmission lines are very convenient tools to study the wave propagation in 1D nonlinear dispersive media [A.C. Scott (Wiley-Interscience, 1970)]. In the present paper, we study the generation of nonlinear modulated waves in real electrical lattices. In the continuum limit, our theoretical analysis based on the Nonlinear Schrodinger e…

GAP solitons in 1D asymmetric physical systems

We present a general approach for studying the nonlinear transmittance and gap solitons characteristics of asymmetric and one dimensional (1 D) systems in the low amplitude or Nonlinear Schrodinger limit. Included in this approach are some novel results on naturally asymmetric systems and systems where the symmetry is broken by an external constant force.

Basic Concepts and the Discovery of Solitons

Today, many scientists see nonlinear science as the most deeply important frontier for the fundamental understanding of Nature. The soliton concept was firmly established after a gestation period of about one hundred and fifty years. Since then, different kinds of solitons have been observed experimentally in various real systems, and today, they have captured the imagination of scientists in most physical discipline. They are widely accepted as a structural basis for viewing and understanding the dynamic behavior of complex nonlinear systems. Before introducing the soliton concept via its remarkable and beautiful historical path we compare briefly the linear and nonlinear behavior of a sys…

Solitons and modulational instability

We introduce the localized nonlinear waves called solitons which can occur in nature with different profiles such as kink, pulse, and envelope solitons. The envelope-soliton is important because without modulation the wave carry no information. It is a solution of the so-called nonlinear Schrodinger equation which describes the evolution of dispersive and weakly nonlinear waves. The generation of envelope soliton trains can result from the modulational instability phenomenon that leads to self induced modulations, with respect to small perturbations, such as noise, of input plane wave.

Wave Modulations in the Nonlinear Biinductance Transmission Line

Adding dissipative elements to a discrete biinductance transmission line which admits both low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) modes, dynamics of a weakly nonlinear modulated wave is investi...

Breather compactons in nonlinear Klein-Gordon systems

We demonstrate the existence of a localized breathing mode with a compact support, i.e., a stationary breather compacton, in a nonlinear Klein-Gordon system. This breather compacton results from a delicate balance between the harmonicity of the substrate potential and the total nonlinearity induced by the substrate potential and the coupling forces between adjacent lattice sites.

Solitons in Optical Fibers

In the near future nonlinear optics should probably revolutionize the world of telecommunications and computer technologies. With lasers producing highintensity and short-duration optical pulses, it is now possible to probe the interesting, and potentially useful, nonlinear effects in optical systems and waveguides. Among the guiding structures, the optical fiber is an interesting (Gloge 1979) and important device (Mollenauer and Stolen 1982; Doran and Blow 1983). In an optical transmission system using linear pulses, the bit rate of transmission is limited by the dispersive character of the material, which causes the pulse to spread out an eventually overlap to such an extend that all the …

Nonlinear Evolution Equations, Quasi-Solitons and their Experimental Manifestation

We review the typical experimental facts which characterize quasisolitons in one-dimensional real systems, in connection with their modeling by nonlinear partial differential equations.We consider these nonlinear waves or excitations in two different domains of the real world : the macroworld and the microworld. In the macroworld we examine typical one-dimensional devices : the electrical networks, the Josephson transmission lines and the optical fibers, where the localized waves or pulses can be simply and coherently created, easily observed and manipulated on a macroscopic scale. In the microworld, we consider the magnetic chains and polymers, where the indirect experimental signatures of…

Dissipative lattice model with exact traveling discrete kink-soliton solutions: Discrete breather generation and reaction diffusion regime

International audience; We introduce a nonlinear Klein-Gordon lattice model with specific double-well on-site potential, additional constant external force and dissipation terms, which admits exact discrete kink or traveling wave fronts solutions. In the nondissipative or conservative regime, our numerical simulations show that narrow kinks can propagate freely, and reveal that static or moving discrete breathers, with a finite but long lifetime, can emerge from kink-antikink collisions. In the general dissipative regime, the lifetime of these breathers depends on the importance of the dissipative effects. In the overdamped or diffusive regime, the general equation of motion reduces to a di…

Modulational instability and critical regime in a highly birefringent fiber

We report experimental observations of modulational instability of copropagating waves in a highly birefringent fiber for the normal dispersion regime. We first investigate carefully the system behavior by means of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations and phase-matching conditions, and then, experimentally, we use two distinct techniques for observing MI (modulational instability) in the fiber; namely, the single-frequency copropagation, where two pump waves of identical frequency copropagate with orthogonal polarizations parallel to the two birefringence axes of the fiber, and the two-frequency copropagation, where the two polarized waves copropagate with different frequencies. In both cases …

Breathing solitary waves in a Sine-Gordon two-dimensional lattice.

We study theoretically and numerically the dynamical behavior of a two-dimensional sine-Gordon lattice. We show that, via modulational instability, an initial-low-amplitude plane wave can evolve spontaneously into moving localized modes with large amplitude. These nonlinear modes, with dimensions depending on the characteristic wavelengths of the instability, behave like breathing solitary waves and present particlelike properties.

More on Transmission-Line Solitons

The study of solitons on discrete lattices dates back to the early days of soliton theory (Frenkel and Kontorova 1939, Fermi et al. 1955) and is of great physical importance. Generally, the discrete nonlinear equations which model these lattices cannot be solved analytically. Consequently, one looks for possible pulse-soliton solutions in the continuum or long wavelength approximation, that is, solitons with a width much larger than the electrical length of a unit section of the electrical network, as described in Chap.3. When this approach is not workable, one has to use numerical approaches (Zabusky 1973, Eilbeck 1991) or simulations. Nevertheless, there exist some lattice models for whic…

Real lattices modelled by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation and its generalizations

We present the analysis of two dimerized lattices : a bi-inductance electrical network with macroscopic wave modes, an antiferromagnetic chain whith microscopic spin waves. Using the multiple scale technique of reductive perturbation we show that the original discrete equations of motion can be reduced to a Nonlinear Schrodinger equation with complex coefficients for the first system and two coupled Nonlinear Schrodinger equations for the second system. The possible solutions of these equations are discussed in relation with our numerical simulations and real experiments.

Linear Waves in Electrical Transmission Lines

Nowadays, linear transmission lines provide vital links in virtually all communications and computer systems, and the parallel-wire line is still widely used today in open-wire form, in coaxial cables and microstrips. The standard twoconductor transmission line is an important familiar system, that is able to support the propagation of transverse electromagnetic modes and is of great interest in many practical situations. We have all often studied this electrical circuit or variation of it in elementary electronics, physics, or mathematics courses (Ramo et al. 1965, Davidson 1978, Badlock and Bridgeman 1981). In fact, the study of linear transmission lines is an old problem: in their simple…

Gap solitons in nonlinear electrical transmission lines

We study theoretically and numerically the properties of monochromatic waves in a nonlinear electrical transmission line,whose capacitance has a periodic spatial variation.ln the continuum limit and weak amplitude limit we reduce the characteristic equations of this system to NLS equation. We find analytical solutions for the voltage envelope, which propagate with frequency in the gap induced by the capacitance periodicity. Our numerical experiments show that, when the input voltage increases, the transmissivity in the gap increases and the voltage envelope approaches the stationnary shape predicted by theory.

NEW NON LINEAR EXCITATIONS IN (CD3)4NMnCl3 (TMMC)

Solitons and their observable signatures in quasi-one-dimensional systems

We give an overview of the experimental signatures of nonlinear waves: notably topological and non topological solitons, in specific quasi-one-dimensional devices and condensed matter systems. Non topological solitons can be easily observed and manipulated, on a macroscopic scale, in optical fibers and electrical transmission lines. Topological solitons have been clearly identified as fluxons in Josephson transmission lines and as domain walls in condensed matter systems such as magnetic chains and synthetic polymers. By contrast, at the present time the observable signatures of nonlinear excitations such as pulse or envelope solitons and polarons, which are predicted to occur on a microsco…

Fluxons in Josephson Transmission Lines

The superconducting Josephson junctions (Barone and Paterno 1982; Parmentier 1978; Lomdahl 1985; Likharev 1986; Pedersen 1986) have proven to be one of the most successful testing grounds for nonlinear wave theory; their use for information processing and storage is quite attractive. In the long Josephson junction or transmission line, the physical quantity of interest is a quantum of magnetic flux, or a fluxon, which has a soliton behavior. It is a remarkably robust and stable object, which can be easily manipulated at high speed and stored electronically. Consequently it should be used as a basic bit in information processing systems.

A Look at Some Remarkable Mathematical Techniques

The nonlinear equations that we have encountered in the previous chapters can be solved by using mathematical techniques such as the powerful inverse scattering transform (IST) (Gardner et al. 1967) and the remarkable Hirota method (Hirota 1971). Specifically, in addition to the one-soliton solutions, explicit multisoliton solutions representing the interaction of any number of solitons can be constructed. Moreover, in several cases a precise prediction, closely related to experiments, can be made by the IST of the nonlinear response of the physical system, that is, of the number of solitons that can emerge from a finite initial disturbance (Zakharov, 1980. Ablowitz and Segur 1981; Calogero…

The Soliton Concept in Lattice Dynamics

In previous chapters we have considered nonlinear waves in the macroworld. We have examined different systems which provide the simplest examples of onedimensional systems or devices, where the localized waves or pulses called solitons can be simply and coherently created, easily observed, and manipulated on a macroscopic scale. At the microscopic level the localized nonlinear wave modes have a spatial extension ranging from less than a few microns to a few angstroms. These excitations, which correspond to large-amplitude atomic or molecular motions, are mainly created by thermal processes, sometimes by some external stimulus; their experimental manifestation is indirect; their observation …

Modulational instability and two-dimensional dynamical structures

A process of nonlinear structure formation on a two-dimensional lattice is proposed. The basic model consists of a two-dimensional lattice equipped at each node with a molecule or dipole rotating in the lattice plane. The interactions involved in the model are reduced to a periodic lattice. Such a discrete system can be applied to the problem of molecule adsorption on a substrate crystal surface, for instance. The continuum approximation of the model leads to a 2-D sine-Gordon system including nonlinear couplings, which itself can be reduced to a 2-D nonlinear Schrodinger equation in the low amplitude limit. Spatio-temporal structure formation is investigated by means of numerical simulatio…