ac driven sine-Gordon solitons: dynamics and stability

We propose a procedure for computing the direct scattering transform of the periodic sine-Gordon equation. This procedure, previously used within the periodic Korteweg-de Vries equation framework, is implemented for the case of the sine-Gordon equation and is validated numerically. In particular, we show that this algorithm works well with signals involving topological solitons, such as kink or anti-kink solitons, but also for non-topological solitons, such as breathers. It h...

In the present Chapter, we consider two prototypical Klein-Gordon models: the integrable sine-Gordon equation and the non-integrable $\phi^4$ model. We focus, in particular, on two of their prototypical solutions, namely the kink-like heteroclinic connections and the time-periodic, exponentially localized in space breather waveforms. Two limits of the discrete variants of these models are contrasted: on the one side, the analytically tractable original continuum limit, and on...

We construct various types of degenerate multi-soliton and multi-breather solutions for the sine-Gordon equation based on B\"{a}cklund transformations, Darboux-Crum transformations and Hirota's direct method. We compare the different solution procedures and study the properties of the solutions. Many of them exhibit a compound like behaviour on a small timescale, but their individual one-soliton constituents separate for large time. Exceptions are degenerate cnoidal kink solu...

Nonlinear wave propagation plays a crucial role in the functioning of many physical and biophysical systems. In the propagation regime, disturbances due to the presence of local external perturbations, such as localised defects or boundary interphase walls have gained great attention. In this article, the complex phenomena that occur when sine-Gordon line solitons collide with localised inhomogeneities are investigated. By a one-dimensional theory, it is shown that internal m...

Noisy and ac forcing can cooperatively lead to the emergence of sine-Gordon breathers robust to dissipation. This phenomenon is studied, for both Neumann and periodic boundary conditions (NBC and PBC, respectively), at different values of the main system parameters, such as the noise intensity and the ac frequency-amplitude pair. In all the considered cases, nonmonotonicities of the probability of generating only breathers versus the noise strength are observed, implying that...

We study in detail the ratchet-like dynamics of topological solitons in homogeneous nonlinear Klein-Gordon systems driven by a bi-harmonic force. By using a collective coordinate approach with two degrees of freedom, namely the center of the soliton, $X(t)$, and its width, $l(t)$, we show, first, that energy is inhomogeneously pumped into the system, generating as result a directed motion; and, second, that the breaking of the time shift symmetry gives rise to a resonance mec...

We have examined the dynamical behavior of the kink solutions of the one-dimensional sine-Gordon equation in the presence of a spatially periodic parametric perturbation. Our study clarifies and extends the currently available knowledge on this and related nonlinear problems in four directions. First, we present the results of a numerical simulation program which are not compatible with the existence of a radiative threshold, predicted by earlier calculations. Second, we carr...

The problem of stability and spectrum of linear excitations of a soliton (kink) of the dispersive sine-Gordon and $\varphi^4$ - equations is solved exactly. It is shown that the total spectrum consists of a discrete set of frequencies of internal modes and a single band spectrum of continuum waves. It is indicated by numerical simulations that a translation motion of a single soliton in the highly dispersive systems is accompanied by the arising of its internal dynamics and, ...

Breathing solitons consist of a fast beating wave within a compact envelope of stable shape and velocity. They manifest themselves in a variety of contexts such as plasmas, optical fibers and cold atoms, but have remained elusive when energy conservation is broken. Here, we report on the observation of breathing, unidirectional, arbitrarily long-lived solitons in non-reciprocal, non-conservative active metamaterials. Combining precision desktop experiments, numerical simulati...

Directed motion of topological solitons (kinks or antikinks) in the damped and AC-driven discrete sine-Gordon system is investigated. We show that if the driving field breaks certain time-space symmetries, the soliton can perform unidirectional motion. The phenomenon resembles the well known effects of ratchet transport and nonlinear harmonic mixing. Direction of the motion and its velocity depends on the shape of the AC drive. Necessary conditions for the occurrence of the e...