Spatial Unfolding of Elementary Bifurcations

We consider solutions of a partial differential equation which are homogeneous in space and stationary or periodic in time. We study the stability with respect to large wavelength perturbations and the weakly nonlinear behavior around these solutions, especially when they are close to bifurcations for the ordinary differential equation governing the homogeneous solutions of the PDE. We distinguish cases where a spatial parity symmetry holds. All bifurcations occurring generically for two-dimensional ODES are treated. Our main result is that for almost homoclinic periodic solutions instability is generic.     

On a Kinetic Fitzhugh–Nagumo Model of Neuronal Network

We investigate existence and uniqueness of solutions of a McKean–Vlasov evolution PDE representing the macroscopic behaviour of interacting Fitzhugh–Nagumo neurons. This equation is hypoelliptic, nonlocal and has unbounded coefficients. We prove existence of a solution to the evolution equation and non trivial stationary solutions. Moreover, we demonstrate uniqueness of the stationary solution in the weakly nonlinear regime. Eventually, using a semigroup factorisation method, we show exponential nonlinear stability in the small connectivity regime.     

Stability of bumps in piecewise smooth neural fields with nonlinear adaptation

We study the linear stability of stationary bumps in piecewise smooth neural fields with local negative feedback in the form of synaptic depression or spike frequency adaptation. The continuum dynamics is described in terms of a nonlocal integrodifferential equation, in which the integral kernel represents the spatial distribution of synaptic weights between populations of neurons whose mean firing rate is taken to be a Heaviside function of local activity. Discontinuities in the adaptation variable associated with a bump solution means that bump stability cannot be analyzed by constructing the Evans function for a network with a sigmoidal gain function and then taking the high-gain limit. In the case of synaptic depression, we show that linear stability can be formulated in terms of solutions to a system of pseudo-linear equations. We thus establish that sufficiently strong synaptic depression can destabilize a bump that is stable in the absence of depression. These instabilities are dominated by shift perturbations that evolve into traveling pulses. In the case of spike frequency adaptation, we show that for a wide class of perturbations the activity and adaptation variables decouple in the linear regime, thus allowing us to explicitly determine stability in terms of the spectrum of a smooth linear operator. We find that bumps are always unstable with respect to this class of perturbations, and destabilization of a bump can result in either a traveling pulse or a spatially localized breather.     

Slow Motion and Metastability for a Nonlocal Evolution Equation

In this paper we consider a nonlocal evolution equation in one dimension, which describes the dynamics of a ferromagnetic system in the mean field approximation. In the presence of a small magnetic field, it admits two stationary and homogeneous solutions, representing the stable and metastable phases of the physical system. We prove the existence of an invariant, one dimensional manifold connecting the stable and metastable phases. This is the unstable manifold of a distinguished, spatially nonhomogeneous, stationary solution, called the critical droplet.^{(4, 10)} We show that the points on the manifold are droplets longer or shorter than the critical one, and that their motion is very slow in agreement with the theory of metastable patterns. We also obtain a new proof of the existence of the critical droplet, which is supplied with a local uniqueness result.     

An Integrodifferential Model for Phase Transitions: Stationary Solutions in Higher Space Dimensions

We study the existence and stability of stationary solutions of an integrodifferential model for phase transitions, which is a gradient flow for a free energy functional with general nonlocal integrals penalizing spatial nonuniformity. As such, this model is a nonlocal extension of the Allen–Cahn equation, which incorporates long-range interactions. We find that the set of stationary solutions for this model is much larger than that of the Allen–Cahn equation.     

The elliptic function waves and solitons in thermal nonlocal media

An analytical solution is obtained in thermal nonlocal media by considering the weakly and strong nonlocal limit, respectively. In weakly nonlocal case the elliptic function wave solutions, which become soliton under limited condition, are present, while in strongly nonlocal case the solutions are bright soliton and multi-hump soliton. These results are well in good agreement with numerical ones in other references [8].     

Asymptotics of large bound states of localized structures

We analyze stationary fronts connecting uniform and periodic states emerging from a pattern-forming instability. The size of the resulting periodic domains cannot be predicted with weakly nonlinear methods. We show that what determine this size are exponentially small (but exponentially growing in space) terms. These can only be computed by going beyond all orders of the usual multiple-scale expansion. We apply the method to the Swift-Hohenberg equation and derive analytically a snaking bifurcation curve. At each fold of this bifurcation curve, a new pair of peaks is added to the periodic domain, which can thus be seen as a bound state of localized structures. Such scenarios have been reported with optical localized structures in nonlinear cavities and localized buckling.     

Nonlinear and nonlocal dynamics of spatially extended systems: Stationary states, bifurcations and stability

Spatially extended systems with nonlocal dynamics (e.g. ferromagnetic resonance or current instability) of the type

with uε ⁿ will be studied near the soft-mode instability (wave number k_c ≠ 0) of a stationary and uniform state. An amplitude equation is derived within the framework of a multiple-scale perturbation theory. A particular example of this class of nonlocal dynamics is also treated numerically. As the main result we find that in contrast to the well-known supercritical bifurcation into a stable periodic state, the uniform state can bifurcate supercritically into a stationary state of an amplitude-modulated fast oscillation in space.     

Localized bifurcations and defect instabilities in the convection of a nematic liquid crystal

The stationary and the time-dependent homogeneous ordered states in convection may both become unstable against localized perturbations. Defects are then created and they may contribute to the disorganization of the homogeneous state. We present an experimental study of defects in some homogeneous stationary structures as well as in the traveling-wave states of convection of a nematic liquid crystal. We show that the core of the defects is a germ of the unstable state and it can become unstable under the external stress. Then, either fully homogeneous states with the symmetry of the core, or complex disordered states can develop from the local instability of defects in processes quite similar to displacive transitions in solids. Some of the main features are qualitatively similar to numerical simulations of an appropriate Landau-Ginzburg equation.     

Multiscale pulse dynamics in communication systems with strong dispersion management

The evolution of an optical pulse in a strongly dispersion-managed fiber-optic communication system is studied. The pulse is decomposed into a fast phase and a slowly evolving amplitude. The fast phase is calculated exactly, and a nonlocal equation for the evolution of the amplitude is derived. In the limit of weak dispersion management the equation reduces to the nonlinear Schr?dinger equation. A class of stationary solutions of this equation is obtained; they represent pulses with a Gaussian-like core and exponentially decaying oscillatory tails, and they agree with direct numerical solutions of the full system.     

Time Asymptotics for Solutions of Vlasov–Poisson Equation in a Circle

We prove that there exists a class of solutions of the nonlinear Vlasov–Poisson equation (VPE) on a circle that converges weakly, as t , to a stationary homogeneous solution of VPE. This behavior is called, in the linear case, Landau damping. The result is obtained by constructing a suitable scattering problem for the solutions of the Vlasov–Poisson problem. A consequence of this result is that a class of stationary solutions of the Vlasov–Poisson equation is unstable in a weak topology.     

向列型液晶中的非局域孤子

 在两种极限情况下求得了向列型液晶中（1+1）D空间光孤子的精确解析解。对非局域非线性项作近似计算,获得了光束的演化方程。在弱非局域情况下,直接积分得出单峰孤子解;强非局域情况下,用贝塞尔函数表示明孤子的解析解,本征值个数与峰的个数一致,预示了多峰明孤子的存在;这些结果与其它文献的精确数值解一致。并把所得解与双曲近似解析解进行了比较。     

Stationary States for Nonlinear Schrödinger Equations with Periodic Potentials

In this paper we consider a one-dimensional non-linear Schrödinger equation with a periodic potential. In the semiclassical limit we prove the existence of stationary solutions by means of the reduction of the non-linear Schrödinger equation to a discrete non-linear Schrödinger equation. In particular, in the limit of large nonlinearity strength the stationary solutions turn out to be localized on a single lattice site of the periodic potential. A connection of these results with the Mott insulator phase for Bose–Einstein condensates in a one-dimensional periodic lattice is also discussed.     

A nonlocal Boussinesq equation: Multiple-soliton solutions and symmetry analysis

A nonlocal Boussinesq equation is deduced from the local one by using consistent correlated bang method. To study various exact solutions of the nonlocal Boussinesq equation, it is converted into two local equations which contain the local Boussinesq equation. From the N-soliton solutions of the local Boussinesq equation, the N-soliton solutions of the nonlocal Boussinesq equation are obtained, among which the (N=2,3,4)-soliton solutions are analyzed with graphs. Some periodic and traveling solutions of the nonlocal Boussinesq equation are derived directly from the known solutions of the local Boussinesq equation. Symmetry reduction solutions of the nonlocal Boussinesq equation are also obtained by using the classical Lie symmetry method.     

Dynamic chaos and stability of a weakly open Bose-Einstein condensate in a double-well trap

We investigate the dynamics of a weakly open Bose-Einstein condensate with attractive interaction in a magneto-optical double-well trap. A set of time-dependent ordinary differential equations describing the complex dynamics are derived by using a two-mode approximation. The stability of the stationary solution is analyzed and some stability regions on the parameter space are displayed. In the symmetric well case, the numerical calculations reveal that by adjusting the feeding from the nonequilibrium thermal cloud or the two-body dissipation rate, the system could transit among the periodic motions, chaotic self-trapping states of the Lorenz model, and the steady states with the zero relative atomic population or with the macroscopic quantum self-trapping (MQST). In the asymmetric well case, we find the periodic orbit being a stable two-sided limited cycle with MQST. The results are in good agreement with that of the direct numerical simulations to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.     

Analysis of the evolution of perturbations in a magnetized collisionless plasma with an integral-equation technique

Summary A technique recently proposed to study the classical problem of the evolution of small perturbations in a collisionless unmagnetized plasma is extended to a magnetized plasma. A time-convolutive integral equation for the plasma density is obtained from the Vlasov equation for a homogeneous plasma in a uniform, stationary magnetic field. The equation can be solved by means of simple numerical algorithms and, in some cases, analytical solutions can be obtained. The procedure proves to be analytically simpler than the classical one and is more convenient from a numerical point of view. Techniques of solution are presented and analytical and numerical results for electrostatic perturbations are discussed.     

General linear response formula for non integrable systems obeying the Vlasov equation

Long-range interacting N-particle systems get trapped into long-living out-of-equilibrium stationary states called quasi-stationary states (QSS). We study here the response to a small external perturbation when such systems are settled into a QSS. In the N → ∞ limit the system is described by the Vlasov equation and QSS are mapped into stable stationary solutions of such equation. We consider this problem in the context of a model that has recently attracted considerable attention, the Hamiltonian mean field (HMF) model. For such a model, stationary inhomogeneous and homogeneous states determine an integrable dynamics in the mean-field effective potential and an action-angle transformation allows one to derive an exact linear response formula. However, such a result would be of limited interest if restricted to the integrable case. In this paper, we show how to derive a general linear response formula which does not use integrability as a requirement. The presence of conservation laws (mass, energy, momentum, etc.) and of further Casimir invariants can be imposed a posteriori. We perform an analysis of the infinite time asymptotics of the response formula for a specific observable, the magnetization in the HMF model, as a result of the application of an external magnetic field, for two stationary stable distributions: the Boltzmann-Gibbs equilibrium distribution and the Fermi-Dirac one. When compared with numerical simulations the predictions of the theory are very good away from the transition energy from inhomogeneous to homogeneous states.     

Finite-well potential in the 3D nonlinear Schrödinger equation: application to Bose-Einstein condensation

Using variational and numerical solutions we show that stationary negative-energy localized (normalizable) bound states can appear in the three-dimensional nonlinear Schr?dinger equation with a finite square-well potential for a range of nonlinearity parameters. Below a critical attractive nonlinearity, the system becomes unstable and experiences collapse. Above a limiting repulsive nonlinearity, the system becomes highly repulsive and cannot be bound. The system also allows nonnormalizable states of infinite norm at positive energies in the continuum. The normalizable negative-energy bound states could be created in BECs and studied in the laboratory with present knowhow.     

The Phonon Boltzmann Equation, Properties and Link to Weakly Anharmonic Lattice Dynamics

For low density gases the validity of the Boltzmann transport equation is well established. The central object is the one-particle distribution function, f, which in the Boltzmann-Grad limit satisfies the Boltzmann equation. Grad and, much refined, Cercignani argue for the existence of this limit on the basis of the BBGKY hierarchy for hard spheres. At least for a short kinetic time span, the argument can be made mathematically precise following the seminal work of Lanford. In this article a corresponding program is undertaken for weakly nonlinear, both discrete and continuum, wave equations. Our working example is the harmonic lattice with a weakly nonquadratic on-site potential. We argue that the role of the Boltzmann f-function is taken over by the Wigner function, which is a very convenient device to filter the slow degrees of freedom. The Wigner function, so to speak, labels locally the covariances of dynamically almost stationary measures. One route to the phonon Boltzmann equation is a Gaussian decoupling, which is based on the fact that the purely harmonic dynamics has very good mixing properties. As a further approach the expansion in terms of Feynman diagrams is outlined. Both methods are extended to the quantized version of the weakly nonlinear wave equation.The resulting phonon Boltzmann equation has been hardly studied on a rigorous level. As one novel contribution we establish that the spatially homogeneous stationary solutions are precisely the thermal Wigner functions. For three phonon processes such a result requires extra conditions on the dispersion law. We also outline the reasoning leading to Fourier’s law for heat conduction.