Cutoff solitons and bistability of the discrete inductance-capacitance electrical line: Theory and experiments

A discrete nonlinear system driven at one end by a periodic excitation of frequency above the upper band edge (the discreteness induced cutoff) is shown to be a means to (1) generate propagating breather excitations in a long chain and (2) reveal the bistable property of a short chain. After detailed numerical verifications, the bistability prediction is demonstrated experimentally on an electrical transmission line made of 18 inductance-capacitance $(LC)$ cells. The numerical simulations of the $LC$-line model allow us also to verify the breather generation prediction with a striking accuracy.