Pseudo-billiards

A new class of Hamiltonian dynamical systems with two degrees of freedom and kinetic energy of the form T = c₁|p₁| + c₂|p₂| (called “pseudo-billiards”) is studied. For any kind of interaction, the canonical equations can always be integrated on sequential time intervals; i.e. in principle all the trajectories can be found explicitly.

Depending on the potential, a dynamical system of this class can either be completely integrable or behave just as a usual non-integrable Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom: in its phase space there exist invariant tori, stochastic layers, domains of global chaos, etc. Pseudo-billiard models of both the types are considered.

If a potential of a pseudo-billiard system has critical points (equilibria), then trajectories close to these points (“loops”) can exist; they can be treated as images of self-localized objects with finite duration. Such a model (with quartic potential) is also studied.     

Random replicators with high-order interactions

We use tools of the equilibrium statistical mechanics of disordered systems to study analytically the statistical properties of an ecosystem composed of N species interacting via random mutual interactions, as well as via deterministic self-interactions of order p>/=2. We show that the main effect of increasing the order of the interactions among the species is to make the system less competitive, in the sense that the fraction of extinct species is greatly reduced. In addition, we find that for p>2 there is a threshold value which gives a lower bound to the concentration of the surviving species, preventing then the existence of rare species and, consequently, increasing the robustness of the ecosystem to external perturbations.     

Solitary wave solutions of nonlocal sine-Gordon equations

In this paper a nonlocal generalization of the sine-Gordon equation, u(tt)+sin u=( partial differential / partial differential x) integral (- infinity ) (+ infinity )G(x-x('))u(x(') )(x('),t)dx(') is considered. We present a brief review of the applications of such equations and show that involving such a nonlocality can change features of the model. In particular, some solutions of the sine-Gordon model (for example, traveling 2pi-kink solutions) may disappear in the nonlocal model; furthermore, some new classes of solutions such as traveling topological solitons with topological charge greater than 1 may arise. We show that the lack of Lorenz invariancy of the equation under consideration can lead to a phenomenon of discretization of kink velocities. We discussed this phenomenon in detail for the special class of kernels G(xi)= summation operator (j=1) (N)kappa(j)e(-eta(j)mid R:ximid R:), eta(j)>0, j=1,2, em leader,N. We show that, generally speaking, in this case the velocities of kinks (i) are determined unambiguously by a type of kink and value(s) of kernel parameter(s); (ii) are isolated i.e., if c(*) is the velocity of a kink then there are no other kink solutions of the same type with velocity c in (c(*)- varepsilon,c(*)+ varepsilon ) for a certain value of varepsilon. We also used this special class of kernels to construct approximations for analytical and numerical study of the problem in a more general case. Finally, we set forth results of the numerical investigation of the problem with the kernel that is the McDonald function G(xi) approximately K(0)(mid R:ximid R:/lambda) (lambda is a parameter) that have applications in the Josephson junction theory. (c) 1998 American Institute of Physics.     

Maturation of auditory temporal integration and inhibition assessed with event-related potentials (ERPs)

Background

We examined development of auditory temporal integration and inhibition by assessing electrophysiological responses to tone pairs separated by interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 ms in 28 children aged 7 to 9 years, and 15 adults.

Results

In adults a distinct neural response was elicited to tones presented at ISIs of 25 ms or longer, whereas in children this was only seen in response to tones presented at ISIs above 100 ms. In adults, late N1 amplitude was larger for the second tone of the tone pair when separated by ISIs as short as 100 ms, consistent with the perceptual integration of successive stimuli within the temporal window of integration. In contrast, children showed enhanced negativity only when tone pairs were separated by ISIs of 200 ms. In children, the amplitude of the P1 component was attenuated at ISIs below 200 ms, consistent with a refractory process.

Conclusions

These results indicate that adults integrate sequential auditory information into smaller temporal segments than children. These results suggest that there are marked maturational changes from childhood to adulthood in the perceptual processes underpinning the grouping of incoming auditory sensory information, and that electrophysiological measures provide a sensitive, non-invasive method allowing further examination of these changes.     

Nonintegrable field equations and homoclinic loops of Hamiltonian systems

Connections between soliton or self-localized states of nonlinear wave equations and special objects (homo- and heteroclinic trajectories) of dynamical systems are considered.     

On chaotic dynamics in "pseudobilliard" Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom

A new class of Hamiltonian dynamical systems with two degrees of freedom is studied, for which the Hamiltonian function is a linear form with respect to moduli of both momenta. For different potentials such systems can be either completely integrable or behave just as normal nonintegrable Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom: one observes many of the phenomena characteristic of the latter ones, such as a breakdown of invariant tori as soon as the integrability is violated; a formation of stochastic layers around destroyed separatrices; bifurcations of periodic orbits, etc. At the same time, the equations of motion are simply integrated on subsequent adjacent time intervals, as in billiard systems; i.e., all the trajectories can be calculated explicitly: Given an initial data, the state of the system is uniquely determined for any moment. This feature of systems in interest makes them very attractive models for a study of nonlinear phenomena in finite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems. A simple representative model of this class (a model with quadratic potential), whose dynamics is typical, is studied in detail. (c) 1997 American Institute of Physics.     

Bifurcations of the trajectories at the saddle level in a Hamiltonian system generated by two coupled Schrodinger equations

Bifurcations of the complex homoclinic loops of an equilibrium saddle point in a Hamiltonian dynamical system with two degrees of freedom are studied. It arises to pick out the stationary solutions in a system of two coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equations. Their relation to bifurcations of hyperbolic and elliptic periodic orbits at the saddle level is studied for varying structural parameters of the system. Series of complex loops are described whose existence is related to periodic orbits.     

Dynamical systems in the theory of solitons in the presence of nonlocal interactions

The behavior of solitons in models which take into account complex dispersion or nonlocal interaction of nonlinear waves is examined. A method is proposed to reduce this problem to one involving special trajectories (homoclinic and heteroclinic) of the dynamic system. This method involves replacing the nonlinear integrodifferential equation with the differential equations which link the original nonlinear field with the auxiliary linear fields. The interaction of fields in such a model is a local interaction. The number of introduced linear fields is determined by the Laplace transform of the integral operator kernel of the basic integrodifferential equation. The problem involving topological solitons for the nonlocal generalization of the Klein-Gordon equation is considered. Nonlocal interactions are found to lead to a number of singularities (unrestricted increase in the slope of the topological soliton front, break in the solutions, and other singularities).