2003/05/16 by Jerome Leon, Frederic Geniet · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0953-8984/15/17/341
published as J. Phys., Condens. Matter 15 (2003) 2933
arxiv created 2003/05/16 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
A nonlinear system possessing a natural forbidden band gap can transmit energy of a signal with a frequency in the gap, as recently shown for the nonlinear chain of coupled pendula [Phys Rev Lett 89 (2002) 134102]. This process of nonlinear supratransmission, occurring at a threshold exactly predictable in many cases, is shown to have a simple experimental realization with a mechanical chain of pendula coupled by a coil spring. It is then analyzed in more detail by first going to different (non-integrable) systems which do sustain nonlinear supratransmission. Then a Josephson transmission line (one dimensional array of short Josephson junctions coupled through super-conducting wires), is shown to sustain also nonlinear supratransmission, though being related to a different class of boundary conditions, and despite the presence of damping, finiteness and discreteness. Finally the mechanism at the origin of nonlinear supratransmission is a nonlinear instability, and it is briefly discussed here.