Travelling breathers with exponentially small tails in a chain of nonlinear oscillators (Q2575341)

The authors study the existence of traveling nanopterons (breathers superimposed to an exponentially small oscillatory tail) in Klein-Gordon chains, i.e., \(\ddot{x}_n + V'(x_n) =\gamma(x_{n+1}-2x_n+x_{n-1})\), \(x_n(\tau)=x_{n-p}(\tau-T)\), in particular for \(p=2\). (They promise \(p>2\) for upcoming work using the same ideas). Their method generalizes an approach by \textit{G. Iooss} and \textit{K. Kirchgässner} (\(p=1\)) in [Commun.\ Math.\ Phys.\ 211, 439--464 (2000; Zbl 0956.37055)]. Namely, the problem can be written as a reversible system of \(p\)~coupled advance-delay ODEs; the spectrum of the linearization is pure-point and can be obtained explicitly in terms of a transcendental equation, which is analyzed in detail for the central (purely imaginary) part. In the parameter range studied, there is an eight-dimensional center manifold corresponding to two pairs of single imaginary eigenvalues and one pair of double imaginary eigenvalues, which latter, under perturbation into a quadruple of eigenvalues with small real parts, give rise to orbits that are homoclinic to a periodic solution. The authors' reference to \textit{E. Lombardi} [Oscillatory integrals and phenomena beyond all algebraic orders with applications to homoclinic orbits in reversible system. Lecture Notes in Mathematics. 1741. Berlin: Springer (2000; Zbl 0959.34002)] needs to be consulted for details. For a full proof that these solutions, constructed in leading order, exist as exact solutions for the nontruncated system, it is assumed that the potential~\(V\) is even, thus providing for a second reversibility symmetry.