Discrete breathers in classical ferromagnetic lattices with easy-plane anisotropy

Discrete breathers (nonlinear localized modes) have been shown to exist in various nonlinear Hamiltonian lattice systems. This paper is devoted to the investigation of a classical d-dimensional ferromagnetic lattice with easy plane anisotropy. Its dynamics is described via the Heisenberg model. Discrete breathers exist in such a model and represent excitations with locally tilted magnetization. They possess energy thresholds and have no analogs in the continuum limit. We are going to review the previous results on such solutions and also to report new results. Among the new results we show the existence of a big variety of these breather solutions, depending on the respective orientation of the tilted spins. Floquet stability analysis has been used to classify the stable solutions depending on their spatial structure, their frequency, and other system parameters, such as exchange interaction and local (single-ion) anisotropy.     

Discrete breathers in nonlinear lattices: experimental detection in a josephson array

We present the experimental detection of discrete breathers in an underdamped Josephson-junction array. Breathers exist under a range of dc current biases and temperatures, and are detected by measuring dc voltages. We find that the maximum allowable bias current for the breather is proportional to the array depinning current, while the minimum current seems to be related to a junction retrapping mechanism. We have observed that this latter instability leads to the formation of multisite breather states in the array. We have also studied the domain of existence of the breather at different values of the array parameters by varying the temperature.     

Discrete breathers

Nonlinear classical Hamiltonian lattices exhibit generic solutions in the form of discrete breathers. These solutions are time-periodic and (typically exponentially) localized in space. The lattices exhibit discrete translational symmetry. Discrete breathers are not confined to certain lattice dimensions. Necessary ingredients for their occurrence are the existence of upper bounds on the phonon spectrum (of small fluctuations around the groundstate) of the system as well as the nonlinearity in the differential equations. We will present existence proofs, formulate necessary existence conditions, and discuss structural stability of discrete breathers. The following results will be also discussed: the creation of breathers through tangent bifurcation of band edge plane waves; dynamical stability; details of the spatial decay; numerical methods of obtaining breathers; interaction of breathers with phonons and electrons; movability; influence of the lattice dimension on discrete breather properties; quantum lattices — quantum breathers.Finally we will formulate a new conceptual approach capable of predicting whether discrete breathers exist for a given system or not, without actually solving for the breather. We discuss potential applications in lattice dynamics of solids (especially molecular crystals), selective bond excitations in large molecules, dynamical properties of coupled arrays of Josephson junctions, and localization of electromagnetic waves in photonic crystals with nonlinear response.     

Discrete breathers in nonlinear Schrödinger hypercubic lattices with arbitrary power nonlinearity

We study two specific features of onsite breathers in Nonlinear Schrödinger systems on d-dimensional cubic lattices with arbitrary power nonlinearity (i.e., arbitrary nonlinear exponent, n): their wavefunctions and energies close to the anti-continuum limit-small hopping limit-and their excitation thresholds. Exact results are systematically compared to the predictions of the so-called exponential ansatz (EA) and to the solution of the single nonlinear impurity model (SNI), where all nonlinearities of the lattice but the central one, where the breather is located, have been removed. In 1D, the exponential ansatz is more accurate than the SNI solution close to the anti-continuum limit, while the opposite result holds in higher dimensions. The excitation thresholds predicted by the SNI solution are in excellent agreement with the exact results but cannot be obtained analytically except in 1D. An EA approach to the SNI problem provides an approximate analytical solution that is asymptotically exact as n tends to infinity. But the EA result degrades as the dimension, d, increases. This is in contrast to the exact SNI solution which improves as n and/or d increase. Finally, in our investigation of the SNI problem we also prove a conjecture by Bustamante and Molina [C.A. Bustamante, M.I. Molina, Phys. Rev. B 62 (23) (2000) 15287] that the limiting value of the bound state energy is universal when n tends to infinity.     

Discrete breathers in alpha-uranium

Uranium is an important radioactive material used in the field of nuclear energy and it is interesting from the scientific point of view because it possesses unique structure and properties. There exist several experimental reports on anomalies of physical properties of uranium that have not been yet explained. Manley et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 125501 (2006); Phys. Rev. B 77, 214305 (2008)] speculate that the excitation of discrete breathers (DBs) could be the reason for anisotropy of thermal expansion and for the deviation of heat capacity from the theoretical prediction in the high temperature range. In the present work, with the use of molecular dynamics, the existence of DBs in α-uranium is demonstrated and their properties are studied. It is found that DB frequency lies above the phonon band and increases with DB amplitude. DB is localized on half a dozen of atoms belonging to a straight atomic chain. DB in uranium, unlike DBs in fcc, bcc and hcp metals, is almost immobile. Thus, the DB reported in this study cannot contribute to thermal conductivity and the search for other types of DBs in α-uranium should be continued. Our results demonstrate that even metals with low-symmetry crystal lattices such as the orthorhombic lattice of α-uranium can support DBs.     

Propagation dynamics on the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices

The spatiotemporal propagation of a momentum excitation on the finite Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattices is investigated. The competition between the solitary wave and phonons gives rise to interesting propagation behaviors. For a moderate nonlinearity, the initially excited pulse may propagate coherently along the lattice for a long time in a solitary wave manner accompanied by phonon tails. The lifetime of the long-transient propagation state exhibits a sensitivity to the nonlinear parameter. The solitary wave decays exponentially during the final loss of stability, and the decay rate varying with the nonlinear parameter exhibits two different scaling laws. This decay is found to be related to the largest Lyapunov exponent of the corresponding Hamiltonian system, which manifests a transition from weak to strong chaos. The mean-free-path of the solitary waves is estimated in the strong chaos regime, which may be helpful to understand the origin of anomalous conductivity in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice.     

Discrete breathers in Josephson arrays

Since the original proposal of 1996 by Floria et al. [Europhys. Lett. 36, 539 (1996)] of intrinsic localization in Josephson ladders, many efforts have been devoted to the theoretical, numerical, and experimental study of such dynamical states in Josephson arrays. Such efforts have already produced around 20 papers on the subject. In this article we will try to review the basic aspects of the physics of discrete breathers in Josephson arrays.     

Discrete breathers in deformed graphene

The linear and nonlinear dynamics of elastically deformed graphene have been studied. The region of the stability of a planar graphene sheet has been represented in the space of the two-dimensional strain (? _xx , ? _yy ) with the x and y axes oriented in the zigzag and armchair directions, respectively. It has been shown that the gap in the phonon spectrum appears in graphene under uniaxial deformation in the zigzag or armchair direction, while the gap is not formed under a hydrostatic load. It has been found that graphene deformed uniaxially in the zigzag direction supports the existence of spatially localized nonlinear modes in the form of discrete breathers, the frequency of which decreases with an increase in the amplitude. This indicates soft nonlinearity in the system. It is unusual that discrete breather has frequency within the phonon spectrum of graphene. This is explained by the fact that the oscillation of the discrete breather is polarized in the plane of the graphene sheet, while the phonon spectral band where the discrete breather frequency is located contains phonons oscillating out of plane. The stability of the discrete breather with respect to the small out-of-plane perturbation of the graphene sheet has been demonstrated.     

Discrete breathers in nonlinear magnetic metamaterials

Magnetic metamaterials composed of split-ring resonators or U-type elements may exhibit discreteness effects in THz and optical frequencies due to weak coupling. We consider a model one-dimensional metamaterial formed by a discrete array of nonlinear split-ring resonators where each ring interacts with its nearest neighbors. On-site nonlinearity and weak coupling among the individual array elements result in the appearance of discrete breather excitations or intrinsic localized modes, both in the energy-conserved and the dissipative system. We analyze discrete single and multibreather excitations, as well as a special breather configuration forming a magnetization domain wall and investigate their mobility and the magnetic properties their presence induces in the system.     

Discrete breathers in two-dimensional Josephson-junction arrays

We have proposed theoretically and studied numerically the existence of discrete breathers (intrinsic localized modes) in the dynamics of a two-dimensional Josephson-junction array biased by radio-frequency fields. The solutions are linearly stable in the framework of the Floquet theory and robust in the presence of thermal fluctuations. We have also discussed the conditions for realizing an experimental detection of these modes.     

Discrete breathers in a model with Morse potentials

Under harmonic approximation, this paper discusses the linear dispersion relation of the one-dimensional chain. The existence and evolution of discrete breathers in a general one-dimensional chain are analysed for two particular examples of soft (Morse) and hard (quartic) on-site potentials. The existence of discrete breathers in one-dimensional and two-dimensional Morse lattices is proved by using rotating wave approximation, local anharmonic approximation and a numerical method. The localization and amplitude of discrete breathers in the two-dimensional Morse lattice with on-site harmonic potentials correlate closely to the Morse parameter a and the on-site parameter к.     

Discrete breathers in nonlinear network models of proteins

We introduce a topology-based nonlinear network model of protein dynamics with the aim of investigating the interplay of spatial disorder and nonlinearity. We show that spontaneous localization of energy occurs generically and is a site-dependent process. Localized modes of nonlinear origin form spontaneously in the stiffest parts of the structure and display site-dependent activation energies. Our results provide a straightforward way for understanding the recently discovered link between protein local stiffness and enzymatic activity. They strongly suggest that nonlinear phenomena may play an important role in enzyme function, allowing for energy storage during the catalytic process.     

Discrete breathers in the Peyrard-Bishop model of DNA

The Peyrard-Bishop model, which describes the dynamics of a DNA molecule, is considered. The solutions that represent discrete breathers are derived in the framework of the model. The dynamic stability of the stationary discrete breathers with respect to small perturbations is studied. The solutions can be interpreted as the experimentally observed opening of the base pairs in the DNA double strand at the initial stages of denaturation. It is also demonstrated that the model allows the existence of mobile breathers that move in the absence of perturbations in the environment. The interaction of the mobile breathers is numerically simulated. The Peierls-Nabarro barrier and the effective mass and velocity of the breather are estimated.     

Discrete breathers and delocalization in nonlinear disordered systems

We find exact localized time-periodic solutions with frequencies inside the linearized spectrum [intraband discrete breathers (IDBs)] in random nonlinear models using a new self-consistent method. The IDB frequencies belong to intervals between forbidden gaps generated by resonances with the linear modes, becoming fat Cantor sets in infinite systems. When localized IDBs are continued versus frequency, they delocalize and become multisite IDBs (not predicted by existing theorems), which can propagate energy. Some implications for energy relaxation in glasses are discussed.     

The effect of cubic potentials on discrete breathers in a mixed Klein-Gordon/Fermi-Pasta-Ulam chain

Nonlinearity has a crucial impact on the symmetry properties of dynamical systems.This paper studies a onedimensional mixed Klein-Gordon/Fermi-Pasta-Ulam diatomic chain using the expanded rotating plane-wave approximation and numerical calculations to determine the effect of cubic potentials on the symmetry properties of discrete breathers in this system.The results will be very useful to researchers in the field of numerical calculations on discrete breathers.     

Almost compact breathers in anharmonic lattices near the continuum limit

Certain strictly anharmonic one-dimensional lattices support discrete breathers over a macroscopic localized domain that in the continuum limit becomes exactly compact. The discrete breather tails decay at a double-exponential rate, so such systems can store energy locally, especially since discrete breathers appear to be stable for amplitudes below a sharp stability threshold. The effective width of other solutions broadens over time, but, under appropriate conditions, only after a positive waiting time. The continuum limit of a planar hexagonal lattice also supports a compact breather.     

Discrete breathers: exact solutions in piecewise linear models

Exact breather solutions are constructed in piecewise linear (PWL) versions of the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger and Klein-Gordon equations. These solutions correspond to intersections of stable and unstable manifolds of relevant fixed points in associated 2D mappings, an exact construction of which is possible due to the PWL nature of the models. Such exact solutions give us insight into several aspects of breather properties. The problem of dynamical stability of the breathers is mentioned as an instance, detailed results on which will be presented in a future paper.     

Discrete breathers and nonlinear normal modes in monoatomic chains

We consider a relation between discrete breathers (DBs) and nonlinear normal modes in some nonlinear monoatomic chains. The dependence of the breathers’ stability on the strength of interparticle interaction in the K₄ chain (the chain with uniform on-site and intersite potentials of the fourth order) is investigated. A general method for constructing DBs which provides the pair synchronization between the individual particles’ vibrations is discussed. Many-frequency breathers as DBs of a new type and quasibreathers [introduced in Physical Review E 74 (2006) 036608] are analyzed.     

Discrete solitons and breathers with dilute Bose-Einstein condensates

We study the dynamical phase diagram of a dilute Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped in a periodic potential. The dynamics is governed by a discrete nonlinear Schr?dinger equation: intrinsically localized excitations, including discrete solitons and breathers, can be created even if the BEC's interatomic potential is repulsive. Furthermore, we analyze the Anderson-Kasevich experiment [Science 282, 1686 (1998)], pointing out that mean field effects lead to a coherent destruction of the interwell Bloch oscillations.