Wave propagation properties in oscillatory chains with cubic nonlinearities via nonlinear map approach

Free wave propagation properties in one-dimensional chains of nonlinear oscillators are investigated by means of nonlinear maps. In this realm, the governing difference equations are regarded as symplectic nonlinear transformations relating the amplitudes in adjacent chain sites (n,n + 1) thereby considering a dynamical system where the location index n plays the role of the discrete time. Thus, wave propagation becomes synonymous of stability: finding regions of propagating wave solutions is equivalent to finding regions of linearly stable map solutions. Mechanical models of chains of linearly coupled nonlinear oscillators are investigated. Pass- and stop-band regions of the mono-coupled periodic system are analytically determined for period-q orbits as they are governed by the eigenvalues of the linearized 2D map arising from linear stability analysis of periodic orbits. Then, equivalent chains of nonlinear oscillators in complex domain are tackled. Also in this case, where a 4D real map governs the wave transmission, the nonlinear pass- and stopbands for periodic orbits are analytically determined by extending the 2D map analysis. The analytical findings concerning the propagation properties are then compared with numerical results obtained through nonlinear map iteration. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.