1999/01/31 by K. Ø. Rasmussen, S. Aubry, A. R. Bishop +1 · 2 citations
Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Breather #Classical mechanics #Discrete time and continuous time #Dissipation #Lattice (music) #Mathematics #Nonlinear Photonic Systems #Nonlinear system #Optical properties and cooling technologies in crystalline materials #Phonon #Physics #Population #Quantum mechanics #Statistical physics #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #cond-mat #nlin.PS #patt-sol
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/pl00011032
published as Eur. Phys. J. B 15, 169 (2000).
arxiv created 1999/09/17 · openalex publication_date 2000/04/01 · arxiv updated 2015/06/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the dynamics of the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger lattice initialized such that a very long transitory period of time in which standard Boltzmann statistics is insufficient is reached. Our study of the nonlinear system locked in this \em non-Gibbsian state focuses on the dynamics of discrete breathers (also called intrinsic localized modes). It is found that part of the energy spontaneously condenses into several discrete breathers. Although these discrete breathers are extremely long lived, their total number is found to decrease as the evolution progresses. Even though the total number of discrete breathers decreases we report the surprising observation that the energy content in the discrete breather population increases. We interpret these observations in the perspective of discrete breather creation and annihilation and find that the death of a discrete breather cause effective energy transfer to a spatially nearby discrete breather. It is found that the concepts of a multi-frequency discrete breather and of internal modes is crucial for this process. Finally, we find that the existence of a discrete breather tends to soften the lattice in its immediate neighborhood, resulting in high amplitude thermal fluctuation close to an existing discrete breather. This in turn nucleates discrete breather creation close to a already existing discrete breather.