Peierls-Nabarro potential for a confined chain of hard spheres under compression

Examples of bifurcation diagrams are presented for a chain of hard spheres under compression, which are confined by a transverse potential. The diagrams are modified in the presence of an axial force and show interesting topological rearrangements due to the reconnection of loci of different equilibrium solutions. The corresponding Peierls-Nabarro potential is defined and calculated for various values of compression. This relatively tractable and transparent system can illustrate in detail the general features of such a potential and its relation to experiment. Copyright (C) 2021 The author(s) Published by the EPLA under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).

Automated summary

Bifurcation diagrams of a compressed chain of hard spheres under the influence of an axial force were studied, showing topological rearrangements due to the reconnection of different equilibrium solutions. The corresponding Peierls-Nabarro potential was defined and calculated for various compression values, providing insights on its general features and relationship to experiments.