Nonlinear waves in Newton's cradle and the discrete p-Schrödinger equation

DOI10.1142/S0218202511005763zbMATH Open1331.70042arXiv1008.1153OpenAlexW2963805825MaRDI QIDQ2883369FDOQ2883369

Authors: Guillaume James 

Publication date: 10 May 2012

Published in: M\(^3\)AS. Mathematical Models \& Methods in Applied Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We study nonlinear waves in Newton's cradle, a classical mechanical system consisting of a chain of beads attached to linear pendula and interacting nonlinearly via Hertz's contact forces. We formally derive a spatially discrete modulation equation, for small amplitude nonlinear waves consisting of slow modulations of time-periodic linear oscillations. The fully-nonlinear and unilateral interactions between beads yield a nonstandard modulation equation that we call the discrete p-Schroedinger (DpS) equation. It consists of a spatial discretization of a generalized Schroedinger equation with p-Laplacian, with fractional p>2 depending on the exponent of Hertz's contact force. We show that the DpS equation admits explicit periodic travelling wave solutions, and numerically find a plethora of standing wave solutions given by the orbits of a discrete map, in particular spatially localized breather solutions. Using a modified Lyapunov-Schmidt technique, we prove the existence of exact periodic travelling waves in the chain of beads, close to the small amplitude modulated waves given by the DpS equation. Using numerical simulations, we show that the DpS equation captures several other important features of the dynamics in the weakly nonlinear regime, namely modulational instabilities, the existence of static and travelling breathers, and repulsive or attractive interactions of these localized structures.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1008.1153

Recommendations

• From Newton's cradle to the discrete \(p\)-Schrödinger equation
• Standing waves for discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations
• Travelling waves of forced discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations
• Standing waves in nonlinear Schrödinger equations
• Standing waves for discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations with nonperiodic bounded potentials
• Shock waves in discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations
• Travelling waves of discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations with nonlocal interactions
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1109065
• Standing waves to discrete vector nonlinear Schrödinger equation

zbMATH Keywords

discrete \(p\)-Laplacianmodulation equationperiodic traveling wavesHamiltonian latticeHertzian contactdiscrete breathersNewton's cradlefully nonlinear dispersion

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Discrete version of topics in analysis (39A12) Dynamical systems in classical and celestial mechanics (37N05) Systems with slow and fast motions for nonlinear problems in mechanics (70K70) Nonlinear waves in solid mechanics (74J30) The dynamics of infinite particle systems (70F45)

Cites Work

• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Contact Mechanics
• Proof of existence of breathers for time-reversible or Hamiltonian networks of weakly coupled oscillators
• Bounds on the tight-binding approximation for the Gross-Pitaevskii equation with a periodic potential
• Solitary waves with prescribed speed on infinite lattices
• Existence theorem for solitary waves on lattices
• Numerical experiments on the modulation theory for the nonlinear atomic chain
• Solitary waves on FPU lattices: II. Linear implies nonlinear stability
• Counter-propagating two-soliton solutions in the Fermi–Pasta–Ulam lattice
• Unimodal wavetrains and solitons in convex Fermi–Pasta–Ulam chains
• Existence and modulation of traveling waves in particles chains
• Solitary waves on Fermi–Pasta–Ulam lattices: III. Howland-type Floquet theory
• Solitary waves on Fermi–Pasta–Ulam lattices: IV. Proof of stability at low energy
• Travelling waves in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice
• Title not available (Why is that?)
• Solitary waves on FPU lattices: I. Qualitative properties, renormalization and continuum limit
• Solitary waves for nonconvex FPU lattices
• The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam problem. A status report
• On the solitary wave pulse in a chain of beads
• Centre manifold reduction for quasilinear discrete systems
• Long wave asymptotics. Integrable equations as asymptotic limits of non-linear systems
• Highly nonlinear solitary waves in heterogeneous periodic granular media
• Modulational instability: first step towards energy localization in nonlinear lattices
• Compact and almost compact breathers: A bridge between an anharmonic lattice and its continuum limit
• On classification of intrinsic localized modes for the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation
• Self similar solutions to adhesive contact problems with incremental loading
• Existence of breathers on FPU lattices
• Localized waves in nonlinear oscillator chains
• The fragmentation of a line of balls by an impact
• The nonlinear Schrödinger equation as a macroscopic limit for an oscillator chain with cubic nonlinearities
• On metastability in FPU
• Boundary effects on the dynamics of chains of coupled oscillators
• Anti-integrability in dynamical and variational problems
• Bounds for the nonlinear Schrödinger approximation of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam system
• Standing wave instabilities in a chain of nonlinear coupled oscillators
• Frictionless multiple impacts in multibody systems. I. Theoretical framework
• Frictionless multiple impacts in multibody systems. II. Numerical algorithm and simulation results
• Asymptotic two-soliton solutions in the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam model
• Micro–macro transition in the atomic chain via Whitham's modulation equation
• Envelope compact and solitary pattern structures for the \(\text{GNLS}(m,n,p,q)\) equations
• A New Look at an Old Problem: Newton’s Cradle
• Existence criterion of solitary waves in a chain of grains
• An Extension of Hertz’s Theory in Contact Mechanics

Cited In (26)

• The discrete \(p\)-Schrödinger equations under the mixed boundary conditions on networks
• Breathers in a locally resonant granular chain with precompression
• Quasi-periodic breathers in Newton’s cradle
• Analytic ``Newton's cradles with perfect transfer and fractional revival
• Irreversible energy transfer, localization and non-reciprocity in weakly coupled, nonlinear lattices with asymmetry
• Traveling waves and conservation laws for highly nonlinear wave equations modeling Hertz chains
• Unidirectional energy transport in the symmetric system of non-linearly coupled oscillators and oscillatory chains
• Periodic traveling wave solutions of discrete nonlinear Klein‐Gordon lattices
• Periodic travelling waves and compactons in granular chains
• Breathers in oscillator chains with Hertzian interactions
• Breather arrest in a chain of damped oscillators with Hertzian contact
• From Newton's cradle to the discrete \(p\)-Schrödinger equation
• Quasiperiodic granular chains and Hofstadter butterflies
• Solitary waves in mass-in-mass lattices
• Transient dynamics in strongly nonlinear systems: optimization of initial conditions on the resonant manifold
• Traveling waves for the mass in mass model of granular chains
• Periodic travelling wave solutions of discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equations
• Primary wave transmission in the hexagonally packed, damped granular crystal with a spatially varying cross section
• Breather solutions of the discrete \(p\)-Schrödinger equation
• Travelling breathers and solitary waves in strongly nonlinear lattices
• Discrete breathers and discrete oscillating kink solution in the mass-in-mass chain in the state of acoustic vacuum
• Breathers and other time-periodic solutions in an array of cantilevers decorated with magnets
• Certain aspects of the acoustics of a strongly nonlinear discrete lattice
• Periodic traveling waves in diatomic granular chains
• Traveling and standing waves in coupled pendula and Newton's cradle
• Wave propagation in a strongly nonlinear locally resonant granular crystal

This page was built for publication: Nonlinear waves in Newton's cradle and the discrete \(p\)-Schrödinger equation

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q2883369)