Spontaneous pattern formation in driven nonlinear lattices

We demonstrate the spontaneous formation of spatial patterns in a damped, ac-driven cubic Klein-Gordon lattice. These patterns are composed of arrays of intrinsic localized modes characteristic for nonlinear lattices. We analyze the modulation instability leading to this spontaneous pattern formation. Our calculation of the modulational instability is applicable in one- and two-dimensional lattices; however, in the analyses of the emerging patterns we concentrate particularly on the two-dimensional case.

Localized excitations and their thresholds

We propose a numerical method for identifying localized excitations in discrete nonlinear Schrodinger type models. This methodology, based on the application of a nonlinear iterative version of the Rayleigh-Ritz variational principle yields breather excitations in a very fast and efficient way in one or higher spatial dimensions. The typical convergence properties of the method are found to be super-linear. The usefulness of this technique is illustrated by studying the properties of the recently developed theoretical criteria for the excitation power thresholds for nonlinear modes.

Roughening and super-roughening in the ordered and random two-dimensional sine-gordon models

We present a comparative numerical study of the ordered and the random two-dimensional sine-Gordon models on a lattice. We analytically compute the main features of the expected high-temperature phase of both models, described by the Edwards-Wilkinson equation. We then use those results to locate the transition temperatures of both models in our Langevin dynamics simulations. We show that our results reconcile previous contradictory numerical works concerning the super-roughening transition in the random sine-Gordon model. We also find evidence supporting the existence of two different low-temperature phases for the disordered model. We discuss our results in view of the different analytical predictions available and comment on the nature of these two putative phases.

Localized structures in nonlinear lattices with diffusive coupling and external driving

We study the stabilization of localized structures by discreteness in one-dimensional lattices of diffusively coupled nonlinear sites. We find that in an external driving field these structures may lose their stability by either relaxing to a homogeneous state or nucleating a pair of oppositely moving fronts. The corresponding bifurcation diagram demonstrates a cusp singularity. The obtained analytic results are in good quantitative agreement with numerical simulations.

Two-dimensional discrete breathers: construction, stability, and bifurcations

We develop a methodology for the construction of two-dimensional discrete breather excitations. Application to the discrete nonlinear Schrodinger equation on a square lattice reveals three different types of breathers. Considering an elementary plaquette, the most unstable mode is centered on the plaquette, the most stable mode is centered on its vertices, while the intermediate (but also unstable) mode is centered at the middle of one of the edges. Below the turning points of each branch in a frequency-power phase diagram, the construction methodology fails and a continuation method is used to obtain the unstable branches of the solutions until a triple point is reached. At this triple point, the branches meet and subsequently bifurcate into the final state of an extended phonon mode.

Universal scaling of wave propagation failure in arrays of coupled nonlinear cells

We study the onset of the propagation failure of wave fronts in systems of coupled cells. We introduce a new method to analyze the scaling of the critical external field at which fronts cease to propagate, as a function of intercellular coupling. We find the universal scaling of the field throughout the range of couplings and show that the field becomes exponentially small for large couplings. Our method is generic and applicable to a wide class of cellular dynamics in chemical, biological, and engineering systems. We confirm our results by direct numerical simulations.

Metallic stripe in two dimensions: stability and spin-charge separation

The problems of charge stripe formation, spin-charge separation, and stability of the antiphase domain wall (ADW) associated with a stripe are addressed using an analytical approach to the t- J(z) model. We show that a metallic stripe together with its ADW is the ground state of the problem in the low doping regime. The stripe is described as a system of spinons and magnetically confined holons strongly coupled to the two dimensional spin environment with holon-spin-polaron elementary excitations filling a one-dimensional band.