Solitary waves in a chain of repelling magnets
Abstract
We study experimentally, numerically, and theoretically the dynamics of a one dimensional array of repelling magnets. We demonstrate that such systems support solitary waves with a profile and propagation speed that depend on the amplitude. The system belongs to the kind of nonlinear lattices studied in [Friesecke and Matthies, Physica D 171, 211–220 (2002)] and exhibits a sech2 profile in the low energy regime and atomic scale localization in the high energy regime. Such systems may find potential applications in the design of novel devices for shock absorption, energy localization and focusing. Furthermore, due to the similarity of the magnetic potential with the potentials governing atomic forces, the system could be used for a better understanding of important problems in physics and chemistry.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- May 08, 2014
- Source ID
- 10.1063/1.4872252
Entities
People
- Andrea Leonard
- Chiara Daraio
- Miguel Molerón
Organizations
- Army Research Office
- California Institute of Technology
- ETH Zurich