DISCRETE AND CONTINUOUS doi:10.3934/dcdss.2011.4.

975
DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS SERIES S
Volume 4, Number 5, October 2011 pp. 975994
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES IN
THE MORSE LATTICE
Alejandro B. Aceves
Department of Mathematics
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX 75275, USA
Luis A. Cisneros-Ake
1
and Antonmaria A. Minzoni
2
1
Department of Mathematics, ESFM-Instituto Politecnico Nacional
Unidad Profesional Adolfo Lopez Mateos Edicio 9, 07738 Mexico D.F., Mexico
2
FENOMEC, Department of Mathematics and Mechanics,IIMAS-UNAM
Apdo. 20-726, 01000 Mexico D.F., Mexico
Abstract. Supersonic traveling wave solutions to the Morse lattice are consid-
ered. By numerical means, we show that initial shock like initial values always
evolve into traveling shock solutions after the emission of radiation traveling
at the sound speed. Using a trial function which includes a shape modulation
in the core of the shock we show how the Peierls-Nabarro self consistent po-
tential induced by the lattice is canceled by the adjustment of the phase. We
nd excellent agreement between the modulation analysis and the numerical
solutions.
1. Introduction. The dynamics of nonlinear modes in discrete systems is an area
of research that remains of great interest due to its relevance in broad applied areas
that includes optics, biology, neuroscience and condense matter, to name some [2].
Besides the issue of applicability of the dierent models one encounters in the liter-
ature, there remain many open theoretical questions. Ever since the classical Fermi,
Pasta, Ulam (FPU) [9], numerical experiments on anharmonic oscillator chains in
the early fties, exploring properties such as recurrence, integrability, existence and
stability of nonlinear modes including breathers and solitons remains active. These
anharmonic models are in contrast with those with harmonic interparticle interac-
tion where the leading wave interacts with the dispersed radiation emitted by the
Traveling wave, [17], [3].
Historically when studying discrete models, comparisons are regularly made with
related continuum models. These comparisons go both ways; one can think of lat-
tice nonlinear equations as discretizations of nonlinear PDEs. Similarly, a nonlinear
PDE may be seen as an approximation of a lattice model when one considers modes
that slowly vary along the discrete variable. The PDE approximation is then used
it to nd approximate solutions of long wave nonlinear modes. Under this line of
2000 Mathematics Subject Classication. Primary: 70K75, 74J30, 74J35.
Key words and phrases. Peierls-Nabarro potential, Modulation averaged Lagrangian, Super-
sonic traveling waves.
The rst author was supported by the US National Science Foundation, grant DMS-0505618. L.
A. Cisneros-Ake gratefully acknowledges support from COFAA-IPN, project IPN-CGPI-20100464
and SNI-Mexico.
975
976 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
thought, one encounters many similarities between continuous and discrete nonlin-
ear systems, but perhaps of more interest is recognizing their dierences. One that
stands out is the behavior of traveling wave solutions (TWS) for both systems.
The existence of traveling wave solutions for constant coecients 1 + 1 nonlin-
ear PDEs can be established in a relatively simple way; one assumes a traveling
wave form, u(x, t) = f(x vt), thus reducing the problem to that of an ordinary
dierential equation for f(z), z = x vt. Here proving the existence of homoclinic
or heteroclinic orbits is quite straightforward for second order equations and while
less obvious for higher order equations, in many cases geometric tools are applicable
and used to prove existence. This approach produces traveling localized waves in
the form of pulses (bright solitons or solitary waves), holes in a continuous wave
(eg. dark solitons) or fronts. Furthermore, their robustness to perturbations is a
property that can be studied using perturbation methods. An alternative way to
construct traveling wave solutions for nonlinear PDEs is to rst compute stationary
solutions and then show the equations to be Galilean invariant to construct the
desired solution.
At this point it is important to observe that the approaches suggested above
do not depend on whether the equation is integrable or not. If this is the case,
the Inverse Scattering Transform (IST) or dressing methods [16] produce solutions
including traveling waves This is the only case where discrete systems can be thought
of similar to continuous ones. Namely, if a discrete system is integrable, like the
Toda or Ablowitz-Ladik equations, TW solutions can be built using the IST and
travel as for the continuum system.
When the discrete systems are nonintegrable an important eect is the forma-
tion of the Peierls-Nabarro (PN) potential barrier as in the discrete Sine-Gordon
equation [17] which eventually stops the kink solutions trapping them at a specic
site. It is thus of interest to understand the eect of the PN potential in discrete
models which are nonintegrable.
Abstract results [12], [11] show the existence of supersonic kinks (shock waves)
which are nonintegrable analogues of the Toda shock. However they do not address
the question of the behavior of the PN potential. To better understand these shocks
the regimes of strong, highly supersonic shocks and weak (almost sonic) shocks, have
been explored in detail.
In reference [19] the continuum approach was used to study the evolution of
weak shocks, the main nding is that the KdV approximation is appropriate for
weak shocks. However, the approximation is known to become invalid as the width
of the shock decreases. Another approximate approach was used in [14], [13], [18],
[6], [5] to describe the propagation of shocks in the lattice using the functional form
of the Toda shocks. It was found that the approximation is accurate only for very
strong shocks. The study of moderate shocks was the subject of [10]. It was found
in that work that a modication of the Toda soliton width can be tted to the
numerical solution of the Morse lattice close to the continuum limit. However no
account was given of the eect of the PN potential on the shock.
The results of this work are complementary to the previous ones. In the rst
place, we study moderately strong shocks (with velocity up to twice the sound speed)
and show how in the fully discrete problem the soliton shape has to be modied
taking into account a phase modulation in the core of the shock (in the Toda
lattice the shock has a linear phase) to allow the shock to overcome the PN barrier.
We show using a suitable averaged Lagrangian (which includes exponentially small
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 977
corrections as described in [10]) how the phase is modulated in order to cancel the
eect of the self consistent PN potential to allow the shock to propagate. Also using
the same ideas developed in [4] we show the stabilizing eect of the radiation on
the evolution of a shock like initial value into a shock. We compare in detail the
asymptotic and numerical results and nd remarkable agreement for the leading
order solutions which determine amplitude and speed of the shock.
The paper is organized as follows: in the next section we perform a complete
numerical study on the formation and characteristics of traveling wave solutions
for the Morse potential and determine numerically the nonlinear amplitude speed
relation for Morse shocks. In this section we also give a detail study of the phase
for both the Toda and Morse lattices. The third section is devoted to the varia-
tional formulation of the modulation theory and the comparison of the modulation
results with the numerical solutions. The last section is devoted to conclusions and
comments on the applicability of these results to other lattices.
2. Numerical solutions and steady traveling shock waves. One-dimensional
anharmonic lattices are modeled by a system of equations the form,
m
d
2
y
n
dt
2
= V

(y
n+1
y
n
) V

(y
n
y
n1
) , n = 0, 1, 2, ... (1)
where V
n
is an anharmonic potential and the variables y
n
give the time dependent
displacement at site n. The Lagrangian for equation (1) is given by,
L =

n=
m
2
y
2
n
V (y
n+1
y
n
) . (2)
It is well known that the anharmonic Toda lattice is completely integrable, thus its
shock forms and properties are well understood [20]. The Lagrangian (2) for the
Toda lattice model becomes,
L
T
=

n=
m
2
y
2
n

a
b
_
e
b(yn+1yn)
1
_
a (y
n+1
y
n
) . (3)
with the corresponding equations of motion,
m
d
2
y
n
dt
2
= a
_
e
b(ynyn1)
e
b(yn+1yn)
_
, (4)
n = 0, 1, 2, ...
This lattice supports exact traveling supersonic soliton solutions of the type [20],
y
n
(t) =
1
b
ln
1 +e
2k(n1)
1 +e
2k(n)
+ constant, (5)
satisfying the nonlinear dispersion relation,

=
_
ab
m
sinh k
k
>
_
ab
m
= c. (6)
Where c is the sound speed of the linear waves. Equation (5) describes a kink solu-
tion whose amplitude (2k/b) is inversely proportional to its width (1/k). Observe
that equation (6) shows the supersonic character of the Toda soliton.
For the case of the Morse lattice, the Lagrangian (2) takes the form,
L
M
=

n=
m
2
y
2
n
P
_
e
(yn+1yn)
1
_
2
. (7)
978 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
Thus, the corresponding equations of motion are
m
d
2
y
n
dt
2
=
2P
_
e
(yn+1yn)
+e
2(ynyn1)
e
2(yn+1yn)
e
(ynyn1)
_
,
n = 0, 1, 2, ..
(8)
If we linearize these equations, we nd the sound velocity of the corresponding linear
waves to be c =
_
2P/m.
We note that for strong shocks y
n
y
n1
<< 1 the equations for the Morse
lattice are approximated by the Toda equation provided we take b = 2 and a =
2P. This limiting behavior has been studied in detail in [13] where strong shocks
are studied.
On the other hand the behavior of very weak shocks which satisfy a Boussinesq
type equation has been considered in [18]. We are interested in moderate shocks
whose evolution is not covered by previous work. To study numerically the evolution
of shock like initial values we solve numerically the Morse lattice equation (8) using
a fourth order Runge-Kutta method with a time step t = 5 10
4
and initial
conditions,
y
n
(0) =
1

ln
1 +A
0
e
2k0(n0)
1 +e
2k0(n0)

1

log A
0
, (9)
y
n
(0) =
1

k
0
(1 A
0
)

0
sech (k
0
(n
0
))
e
k0(n0)
+A
0
e
k0(n0)
, (10)
where for convenience the constant level (log A
0
) / has been added to have a zero
level at the leading edge. The initial conditions are of modulation type and have
also been considered in [10] in their study of weak shocks.
Note that for the Toda lattice equation the exact soliton solution corresponds to
the relations A
0
= exp (2k
0
) and

0
=
_
_
ab/msinh k
0
_
/k
0
. In Figure 1 we show
the temporal evolution for the Morse lattice at t = 120 for a chain with parameters
= 0.3, m = 1 and P = 5/3 and initial conditions (9) and (10) with A
0
= 0.212112,
(0) = 0,

0
= 0.9843 and dierent values of k
0
.
We now consider the problem of calculating the nonlinear amplitude width re-
lation for the shock. To this end we refer to Figure 1. It is clear that the initial
condition has evolved into a developed shock having, as expected, the subsonic cone
of radiation behind. We use this numerical solution to t a shock prole of the form:
y
n
(t) =
1
b
ln
1 +e
2k(n1)
1 +e
2k(n)

1

log A. (11)
We begin by tting the shock amplitude at the trailing edge,
A = exp (y
max
n
) , (12)
where y
max
n
is a maximum value obtained from the full numerical solution of Figure
1 when the shock is fully developed.
To determine numerically the velocity

we need to calculate the time the soliton
takes to move one site. To this end we consider Figures 2, 3, 4 where the core region
is displayed in detail for a fully developed shock. It is clear that the prole of Figure
4 is the one of Figure 2 shifted one lattice space to the right. Moreover the detail of
the motion is shown in Figure 5 where each curve represents the velocity at each of
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 979
100 0 100
0
2
4
6
a)
100 50 0 50 100
4.8
5
5.2
5.4
5.6
b)
i)
ii)
iii)
100 0 100
0
1
2
3
4
c)
100 110 120 130
0
1
2
3
4
d)
n
n
y
n
dy
n
/dt
i)
ii)
iii)
Figure 1. Full numerical solution for the Morse lattice for the
initial parameters m = 1, P = 5/3, = 0.3, (0) = 0,

(0) =
0.9843, A(0) = 0.212112. a) Positions and c) velocities at t =
120 for three dierent initial values of k . Since they are almost
indistinguishable, gures b) and d) show smaller windows of a)
and c), respectively. Graph i) corresponds to k (0) = 1.3, ii) to
k (0) = 1.5 and iii) to k (0) = 1.7 in Figures b) and d), respectively.
0
0.5
1
1.5
a)
dy
n
/dt
n
n
y
n
145 150 155
0
0.5
1
1.5
c)
b)
145 150 155
d)
Figure 2. a) and c) soliton congurations at stage A, b) and d)
soliton congurations at stage B from Figure 5.
980 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
0
0.5
1
1.5
a)
145 150 155
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
c)
y
n
n n
dy
n
/dt
b)
145 150 155
d)
Figure 3. a) and c) soliton congurations at C, b) and d) soliton
congurations at stage D from Figure 5.
0
0.5
1
1.5
n
y
n
dy
n
/dt
a)
146 148 150 152 154 156 158
0
0.5
1
1.5
b)
Figure 4. a) and b) soliton congurations at stage E from Figure 5.
the three adjacent core nodes of the congurations studied in Figures 2 to 4. It is
clear that the wave travels across the nodes 151, 152 and 153. Moreover when the
shock wave developed this gure is repeated as the wave travels. Then the travel
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 981
88 88.2 88.4 88.6 88.8 89
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
t
A
B
C
D
E
dy
n
/dt
Figure 5. Full numerical solution for the Morse lattice for an ini-
tial condition with k
0
=

= 1.5, A
0
= 0.2 and chain parameters
m = = 1 and P = 1/2. Evolution in time of the velocity for the
three main points of the core in the traveling wave. Stage A repre-
sents the soliton conguration of Figure 2 a),c). Stage B represents
the soliton conguration of Figure 2 b),d). Stage C represents the
soliton conguration of Figure 3 a),c). Stage D represents the soli-
ton conguration of Figure 3 b),d). Stage E represents the soliton
conguration of Figure 4 a), b).
time for a distance of one site is obtained from Figure 5 and we obtain:

=
1
t
E
t
A
, (13)
where t
E
and t
A
are the times at the stages E and A, respectively. Also, from
Figure 5 we nd y
max
n
corresponding to the maximum value of y
n
in the core region
of the adjusted solution.
In order to numerically estimate k we make use of the derivative of the prole
(11),
y
n
=
k (1 A)

sech (k (n ))
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
, (14)
we have that its maximum is when,
n =
1
4k
log A, (15)
and obtain:
k =
y
max
n
_
1 +

A
_
2
2 (1 A)

. (16)
Which gives the numerical value of k using the previously estimated values of

and
A.
982 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
a)
n n
y
n
dy
n
/dt
500 0 500
0.05
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
c)
b)
500 0 500
d)
Figure 6. a) and c) Full numerical solution in the Morse lattice
obtained from the initial parameters = m = 1, P = 1/2, A
0
=
0.7,

0
= 1.5, k
0
= 1.5 and
0
= 0 at t = 450. b) and d) Full
numerical solution for the same parameters at t = 520.
0
0.2
0.4
y
n
a)
490 495 500 505 510
0
0.1
0.2
n
d
y
n
/
d
t
c)
2
1
0
1
2
x 10
3
y
n a
p
p
r
o
x

y
n n
u
m
b)
490 495 500 505 510
3
2
1
0
1
x 10
3
n
d
y
n a
p
p
r
o
x
/
d
t

d
y
n n
u
m
/
d
t d)
Figure 7. a) and c) Comparisons in the range of the core between
the full numerical solution and the trial function in position and
velocity, respectively, for the parameters = 501.681, k = 0.7749,
A = 0.5650918 and

= 1.1159. b) and d) corresponding errors in
position and velocity.
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 983
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
y
n
a)
1
0
1
x 10
3
y
a
p
p
r
o
x
n

y
n
u
m
n
b)
570 575 580 585 590
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
n
d
y
n
/
d
t
c)
570 575 580 585 590
2
1
0
1
x 10
3
n
d
y
a
p
p
r
o
x
n
/
d
t

d
y
n
u
m
n
/
d
t
d)
Figure 8. a) and c) Comparisons in the range of the core between
the full numerical solution and the trial function in position and
velocity, respectively, for the parameters = 579.89, k = 0.7749,
A = 0.5650918 and

= 1.1159. b) and d) corresponding errors in
position and velocity.
Finally, the numerical approximation for the wave position, , is obtained by
tting the trial function (9), using the approximate values for A, k and

found pre-
viously, with the full numerical solution. In Figure 6 we show a comparison between
a numerical traveling wave solution for the Morse lattice and the trial function with
the wave parameters obtained from equations (12), (13) and (16). In this example,
the error in the core is less than 1.7410
3
in the positions and less than 2.6810
3
in the velocities, see Figures 7b), 7d) and 8b) 8d). In Figures 7a), 7c) and 8a), 8c)
we show a comparison, for positions and velocities respectively, between the full
numerical solution and the approximate solution obtained from the trial function
and wave parameters obtained in (12), (13) and (16). Both Figures 7 and 8 corre-
spond to the same initial condition and same approximate wave parameters but at
dierent times, showing the accuracy of this simple approximation.
Using the numerical procedure explained in this section we nd approximate
nonlinear dispersion relations between the wave parameters A, k and

. We obtain
these numerical approximations by solving the full numerical problem for several
initial parameters A
0
, k
0
and

0
, as it was described. We then use the formulas
(12), (13) and (16) to obtain approximations for the parameters of the adjusted
traveling waves. Figures 2 to 11 show the numerical nonlinear dispersion relations
obtained by this procedure.
It is to be noted that the same procedure applied to the Toda lattice reproduces
the results for the exact soliton solution.
984 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
k
A
Figure 9. Approximate nonlinear dispersion relation A = A(k)
for the Morse lattice obtained from the full numerical solution with
the parameters = m = 1, P = 1/2.
0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
k
d

(
t
)
/
d
t
Figure 10. Approximate nonlinear dispersion relation

=

(k)
for the Morse lattice obtained from the full numerical solution with
the parameters = m = 1, P = 1/2.
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 985
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
5
A
d

(
t
)
/
d
t
Figure 11. Approximate nonlinear dispersion relation

=

(A)
for the Morse lattice obtained from the full numerical solution with
the parameters = m = 1, P = 1/2.
2.1. Numerical estimation of the phase in the Toda and Morse lattices.
To improve the approximation we can use an exact representation of the form:
y
n
(t) =
1

ln
1 +A
n
e
n
1 +e
n

ln A
n

(17)
where A
n
and
n
are functions of n

t to be determined. In principle, one could
determine numerically solutions for A and for the Hirota form (see Appendix
A.2). For strong shocks this is a problem in exponentially small asymptotics. Since
we are interested in moderate shocks the numerics suggest (see Figures 2, 3 and 4)
that A is constant to leading order but can be a nonlinear function of n

t. To
determine the approximate functional form for
n
we solve (17) for
n
in the form:

n
= ln
e
yn

1
A
1 e
yn
(18)
In the particular case of the Toda lattice A = e
2k
and we nd that the correspond-
ing phase is the linear one,

n
= 2k (n ) . (19)
We have veried this result numerically as it is shown in Figure 12. We follow the
same idea to estimate the numerical phase in the Morse lattice. Figures 13 b) and
d) show the numerical estimation of the phase (18) at t = 50 and t = 100 obtained
from the evaluation at the adjusted full numerical solution y
n
. These numerical
solutions correspond to times at which the shock is fully developed. One can see
that the phase for the Morse lattice corresponds to a perturbation of the linear
phase (19) corresponding to the phase of the Toda lattice. Since we are interested
in a phase which is odd to satisfy the matching condition to constant values at the
986 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
10 0 10 20 30 40
0
1
2
3
n
a)
10 20 30 40 50 60
0
1
2
3
n
c)
18 20 22
10
5
0
5
10

n
b)
40 42 44
5
0
5
10
n
n

n
y
n
y
n
d)
Figure 12. Phase for Toda lattice in the region of the core ob-
tained from the initial condition with k = 1.5, A = e
2k
. a) and
b) at t = 15 and c) and d) at 30.
40 50 60 70 80
0
0.5
1
n
a)
y
n
120 130 140 150 160
0
0.5
1
n
c)
72 73 74 75 76 77
5
0
5
10
n
b)

n
147 148 149 150 151 152
5
0
5
n
d)

n
y
n
Figure 13. Phase for Morse lattice in the region of the core
obtained from the full numerical solution with initial conditions
k
0
= 1.5, A
0
= 0.3,

= 1.5. Adjusted values are k = 1.3661,
A = 0.2893,

= 1.5124. a) and b) at t = 50 and c) and d) at 100.
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 987
leading and trailing edges. The simplest approximation is to take:

n
= (n )
_
+(n ) + (n )
2
_
. (20)
Where the parameters , and have to be determined. In the Morse lattice,
we have performed a cubic interpolation of the points shown in both Figures 13 b)
and d) to nd = 2.8217, = 0.0899 and = 0.0927 for this particular case.
This expression can be interpreted as approximating a variable core whose width is
no longer the constant but changes as given in (20). In the next section we will
interpret this modulation of the core as the readjustment of the wave required to
eliminate the self consistent PN potential allowing the shock to propagate freely.
3. Modulation solutions for shock like initial conditions. We now use the
same ideas developed in [4] to study the evolution of shock like initial conditions
for the Morse lattice. The numerical results of the previous section suggest a trial
function of the form (9)
y
n
=
1

ln
1 +Ae
(n)
1 +e
(n)

1

log A (21)
In principle A would also depend on (n ). The function (n ) = 2k (n ) +
(n )
2
+ (n )
3
where , << 2k in the core region. To keep the calculations
manageable we take = = 0 and then later include their higher order eects. We
thus have
y
n
=
1

ln
1 +Ae
2k(n)
1 +e
2k(n)

1

log A
=
1

ln
1 +A
1
e
2k(n)
1 +e
2k(n)
. (22)
This trial function has a kink shape whose trailing edge is
1

log A for 0 < A < 1

and zero leading edge. The cases A = 1 and A = 0 correspond to the zero function
and the unbounded kink, respectively. In this variational approximation we must
assume the solitons parameters to be functions of t [21], that is, A = A(t), k = k (t)
and = (t). We thus compute the average Lagrangian as in [4] extending the
integration only to the time dependent domain which excludes the cone of radiation
shown in Figure 1. This is the region n l (t) where l (t) is obtained as the position
of the leading characteristic of the core of radiation given by the speed of the
continuum linearized wave in the form l (t) = (0) +
_
2P
m
t for the Morse lattice.
We have:
e
(yn+1yn)
1 =
(1 A) sinh ksech (k (n ))
Ae
k(n+1)
+e
k(n+1)
(23)
y
n
=
1
A

A
1 +Ae
2k(n)
+
(1 A)

_
k



k (n )
_
sech (k (n ))
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
. (24)
To calculate the Lagrangian we substitute equations (23) and (24) into equation
(7) and then evaluate the sums. The sums which are convergent are extended
to all values of n since the contributions for n l (t) are small compared with
the contribution for n l (t). There is however one sum involving

A
2
which is
not convergent for n l (t). This sum gives a time dependent contribution f
1
(see Appendix A.1) while evaluated by Poisson formula. The convergent sums are
evaluated using Poisson summation formula. This gives a contribution which is
independent of position and a periodic function. This periodic contribution is the
988 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
PN potential whose eect was discussed in [4] for the Toda lattice case and will be
considered in the following. In this way, the averaged Lagrangian (7) for the Morse
lattice becomes:
L = f
1
(A, k, , t)

A
2
+f
2
(A, k, )

k
2
+f
3
(A, k, )

2
+
f
4
(A, k, )

k

+f
5
(A, k, )

k

A+f
6
(A, k, )

AG
M
(A, k, ) , (25)
where the functions f
i
and G
M
are given in Appendix A.1. For the Toda lattice
we have the same Lagrangian for the kinetic energy and G
M
is replaced by the
corresponding G
T
given in Appendix A.1.
The modulation equations are readily obtained taking the corresponding varia-
tions,
k :
d
dt
L

k
L
k
= 0 (26)
A :
d
dt
L

A
L
A
= 0 (27)
:
d
dt
L

= 0 (28)
It is convenient to solve the previous system for the highest derivatives to obtain:

=
h
1
_
f
2
5
4f
1
f
2
_
+h
2
(2f
2
f
6
f
4
f
5
) +h
3
(2f
1
f
4
f
5
f
6
)
2f
3
f
2
5
2f
4
f
5
f
6
+ 2f
2
f
2
6
8f
1
f
2
f
3
+ 2f
1
f
2
4
(29)

k =
h
1
(2f
1
f
4
f
5
f
6
) +h
2
(2f
3
f
5
f
4
f
6
) +h
3
_
f
2
6
4f
1
f
3
_
2f
3
f
2
5
2f
4
f
5
f
6
+ 2f
2
f
2
6
8f
1
f
2
f
3
+ 2f
1
f
2
4
(30)

A =
h
1
(2f
2
f
6
f
4
f
5
) +h
2
_
f
2
4
4f
2
f
3
_
+h
3
(2f
3
f
5
f
4
f
6
)
2f
3
f
2
5
2f
4
f
5
f
6
+ 2f
2
f
2
6
8f
1
f
2
f
3
+ 2f
1
f
2
4
(31)
Where
h
1
=

2
f
3,
+

k
2
(f
2,
f
4,k
) +

A
2
(f
1,
f
6,A
) 2

Af
3,A
2

kf
3,k
+

k

A(f
5,
f
4,A
f
6,k
) G

h
2
=

A
2
f
1,A
+

k
2
(f
2,A
f
5,k
) +

2
(f
3,A
f
6,
) 2

Af
1,
2

Af
1,t
2

A

kf
1,k
+

k

(f
4,A
f
5,
f
6,k
) G
A
h
3
=

k
2
f
2,k
+

2
(f
3,k
f
4,
) +

A
2
(f
1,k
f
5,A
) 2

kf
2,
2

A

kf
2,A
+

A

(f
6,k
f
5,
f
4,A
) G
k
The modulation equations can be integrated numerically to nd the temporal
evolution of the shock parameters A = A(t), k = k (t) and = (t) . The xed
point for the equations (26)-(28) is readily found solving for L
k
= L
A
= L

= 0. It
follows from the Appendix that L
k
= 0 and L
A
= 0 involve order one (in the width)
terms which are independent of and exponentially small contributions which are
periodic in which give the eect of the PN potential. It must be remarked that
even for moderate shocks, k 2, studied numerically the order of magnitude of the
PN terms are given by sinh
1
_

2
/k
_
10
4
. The L

term only contains the PN

contribution. Clearly the equations have no traveling wave solutions. However since
the PN contribution is small we neglect it to leading order in all the equations. We
then have from (28) that
d
dt
L

=
d
dt
f
3
(A, k)

= 0, (32)
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 989
and since at the xed point

A =

k = 0 we obtain

A =constant. In the same way,
L
k
= 0 gives

2
= f
1
3,k
G
k
, (33)
and L
A
= 0 gives

2
= f
1
3,A
G
A
. (34)
We thus have that the root of the equation
H (A, k) =
G
A
f
3,A

G
k
f
3,k
= 0, (35)
provides the dispersion relationship A = A(k). For the Toda lattice it follows
that A(k) = e
2k
is the corresponding solution of equation (35) when G is the
corresponding G
T
for the Toda lattice( see H
T
in Appendix A.1).
In the case of the Morse lattice the function H takes the following form:
H
M
(A, k) =
A
_
Ae
2k

e
2k
A
2 (ln A+ 2k)
__
2
(A1) [(A+ 1) ln A2A+ 2]
k (A
2
1 2Aln A)
_
+
_
Ae
k
(ln A+ 2k 2) +
e
k
(ln A+ 2k + 2)
_
_
Ae
k
_
2 coth k
1
k
2
_
e
k
_
2 coth k
1
k
+ 2
_
4Asinh k
(A+1) ln A2A+2
k(A
2
12Aln A)
_
(36)
In Figure 14 we display the level line H
M
= 0, which gives the dispersion relation
A = A(k). Figure 14 shows a remarkable comparison between the modulation
solution and the numerical result.
We remark that for the Toda lattice once A(k) and

are obtained, as shown
before, all the PN terms cancel to all orders, see [4]. This is to be expected since
the Toda shock is an exact freely propagating shock. For the Morse lattice this is
clearly not the case and because of this reason we need to nd corrections to the
proposed trial function to explain the free propagation with approximate dispersion
relation given by the solutions of H
M
= 0.
In order to nd the next correction we need to modify the trial function. We
use the one proposed in (21). If the trial function with arbitrary and A are used
in the average Lagrangian for a traveling wave the modulation equations become
delay equations and do not provide an analytic approximate solution.
Substitution of the trial function with a cubic phase in the Lagrangian gives a
new average Lagrangian depending on the parameters and which in principle
are also functions of time. This is the same as the one in equation (25) where the
functions f
i
and G
M
depend also on and . There will be two more terms g

2
and g

2
. Notice that as in the equation for A the functions g

and g

increase
linearly in time.
The steady traveling wave is now obtained assuming

A =

k = = = 0 and

=constant. Taking variations and expanding for , << 1 we obtain to leading

order equations (33) and (34). The PN contributions are small but nonzero. The
parameters and are then used to cancel the PN contributions in the equations
for k and . However the equation for A still has a PN contribution. However as
t this contribution becomes irrelevant since A approaches the xed point since
f
1
as t . To compare in detail the results of this procedure with the full
990 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
numerical results we need an accurate numerical solution to be found as suggested
in Appendix A.2. This will be subject of further work.
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
k
A
a)
b)
Figure 14. Comparison between the full numerical solution for
the Morse lattice from section 2.1 represented with squares and
the variational method described in this section. a) Zero level curve
A(k) = e
2k
of H
T
for the Toda lattice and b) Zero level curve of
H
M
for the Morse lattice.
We have determined the approximate solution for the parameters A, , and

as functions of k which cancel to leading order the PN contribution. This solution is

the xed point of the modulation equations L
k
= L
A
= L

= 0 to leading order in
the PN contribution. The equations L

= 0 and L

= 0 are not satised. However

since g

and g

increase linearly in time we have that and tend to the values

determined by the xed point relation which gives A(k). This observation shows
that the approximate solution for the dynamics of the readjustment to the shock
can be constructed in a consistent way provided we have an accurate approximation
to the traveling wave.
This analysis shows that the PN barrier is eliminated by adjusting the core and
a much lesser extent the leading and trailing edges of the shock. It must be noted
that in the supersonic problems considered the main radiation damping mechanism
can be taken into account by the time dependent Lagrangian obtained by averaging
the equations in the shock region.
4. Discussion and conclusions. We have shown that shock like initial values
with small width evolve into propagating shocks for the Morse lattice. These shocks
travel without change of shape. Unlike subsonic waves which are trapped by the
PN potential these moderately supersonic solutions propagate freely like the Toda
shocks which as exact solutions produce no PN potential. We showed using appro-
priate trial functions, which are determined variationally, that Morse shocks cancel
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 991
to leading order the PN potential by readjusting their shape in the core. The two
mechanisms described do not depend on the form of the interparticle potential but
only on the general properties of the averaged Lagrangian. Thus similar results are
expected in the general case. We thus see that the present analysis supplements
the results of [12] since gives the detailed asymptotics for the wave form and the
approximate dynamics including the radiation shed at the trailing edge.
We thus see that supersonic waves suppress the PN potential by consistently
adjusting their phase which controls their shape in the core region. The present
asymptotics lls the gap between the strong shock regime approximately described
by the Toda shock and the very weak regime described by the KdV equation. The
problem of nding an asymptotic solution to all orders remains an open question
in exponentially small asymptotics.
Future work will analyze the slow modulation in amplitude and phase for the
Morse traveling wave solutions. We will also seek traveling wave solutions using
Fourier series [8, 15] but applied to the Hirota representation derived in the appen-
dix. The problem is the one of solving asymptotically advanced delay dierential
equations. We remark on the accuracy of this variational approximation to the
shape of the asymptotic shock.
Acknowledgments. The rst author wants to thank Chris Eilbeck and Alan
Champneys for their insightful comments and suggestions. We also want to thank
an anonymous referee for pointing out important references and useful comments
which signicantly improved the presentation of the results.
Appendix A. Appendix.
A.1. Functional computations. The Poisson summation formula [7] to rst or-
der gives,
f
1
(A, k, , t) =
1

2
A
2

n=l(t)
1
_
Ae
2k(n)
+ 1
_
2
=
1
2k
2
A
2
_

l(t)
du
(Ae
u
+ 1)
2
+PN
1
(A, k, , t)
=
1
2k
2
A
2
_
ln
1 +Ae
l(t)
A

1
1 +Ae
l(t)
l (t)
_
+PN
1
(A, k, , t) ,
where the characteristic n = l (t) is given by:
Toda lattice : l (t) = (0) +
_
ab
m
t
Morse lattice : l (t) = (0) +
_
2P
m
t
f
2
(A, k, ) =
(1 A)
2

n=
(n )
2
sech
2
(k (n ))
_
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
_
2
=
(1 A)
2

2
k
3
_

u
2
sech
2
u
(e
u
+Ae
u
)
2
du +PN
2
(A, k, ) ,
992 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
f
3
(A, k, ) =
k
2
(1 A)
2

n=
sech
2
(k (n ))
_
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
_
2
=
k (1 A)
2

2
_

sech
2
u
(e
u
+Ae
u
)
2
du +PN
3
(A, k, )
=
2k (1 +A)

2
(A1)
ln A
4k

2
+PN
3
(A, k, ) ,
f
4
(A, k, ) =
2 (1 A)
2

n=
k (n ) sech
2
(k (n ))
_
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
_
2
=
2 (1 A)
2
k
2
_

usech
2
u
(e
u
+Ae
u
)
2
du +PN
4
(A, k, ) ,
f
5
(A, k, ) =
2 (1 A)

2
A

n=
(n ) sech (k (n ))
_
Ae
2k(n)
+ 1
_ _
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
_
=
2 (1 A)

2
k
2
A
_

usechu
(Ae
2u
+ 1) (e
u
+Ae
u
)
du +PN
5
(A, k, ) ,
f
6
(A, k, ) =
2k (A1)

2
A

n=
sech (k (n ))
_
Ae
2k(n)
+ 1
_ _
e
k(n)
+Ae
k(n)
_
=
2 (A1)

2
A
_

sechu
(Ae
2u
+ 1) (e
u
+Ae
u
)
du +PN
6
(A, k, ) ,
For Toda,
G
T
(k, A, ) =
a
b
(1 A) sinh k

n=
sech (k (n ))
e
k(n+1)
+Ae
k(n+1)
+
a
b
ln A
=
a
b
(1 A)
sinh k
k
2k + ln A
Ae
k
e
k
+
a
b
ln A+
2a
b
(1 A) sinh k

n=
C
n
cos
_
n ln A
2k
_ cos
_
2n
_
ln A
4k

__
For Morse,
G
M
(k, A, ) = P (1 A)
2
sinh
2
k

n=
sech
2
(k (n ))
_
e
k(n+1)
+Ae
k(n+1)
_
2
= P (1 A)
2
sinh
2
k
k
2
(Ae
k
e
k
)
2
_
Ae
k
+e
k
Ae
k
e
k
(ln A+ 2k) 2
_
+
2P (1 A)
2
sinh
2
k

n=
D
n
cos
_
n ln A
2k
_ cos
_
2n
_
ln A
4k

__
where
C
n
=

k sinh
_
n
2
k
_
(Ae
k
e
k
)
sin
_
n
k
ln A
_
(37)
ASYMPTOTICS FOR SUPERSONIC TRAVELING WAVES 993
D
n
(38)
=
2
k (Ae
k
e
k
)
2
sinh
_
n
2
k
_
_
Ae
k
+e
k
Ae
k
e
k
sin
_
n
k
ln A
_

n
k
_
1 + cos
_
n
k
ln A
__
_
From section 3 we nd for the Toda lattice,
H
T
(A, k) =
A((A+ 1) ln A2A+ 2)
k (A
2
1 2Aln A)
_
k
A
Ae
k
e
k
sinh k
ln A2k+
(1A)(
1
A
(Ae
k
e
k
)e
k
(ln A+2k))
Ae
k
e
k
_

2k + ln A
k
(k coth k 1)
2
_
Ae
k
e
k
_
(2k + ln A)
_
Ae
k
+e
k
_
Ae
k
e
k
.
A.2. Hirota formulation. The Morse system has the following equivalent formu-
lation. Let a
n
= e
(yn+1yn)
, then
db
n
dT
=
_
a
n
a
2
n
a
n1
+a
2
n1
_
da
n
dT
= a
n
(b
n+1
b
n
)
Where T =
_
2P
m
. Observe the last equation is equivalent to
d
dT
ln(a
n
) = (b
n+1

b
n
). From this, we dene b
n
=
d
dT
_
ln(
n
n+1
)
_
, which gives the relation a
n
=
nn+2

2
n+1
,
where
n
satises,

3
n
d
2

n
dT
2

2
n
(
d
n
dT
)
2
=
_

n1

n+1
_
2

2
n

n1

n+1
We will explore in a future publication if an exact or approximate solution of the
form
n
= f(n vT) exists. The numerical results suggest that f() = 1 + e
P()
where P () is a polynomial. We believe this equation is suitable to be studied
using the method of Eilbeck and Flesch [8] and more recently applied to the discrete
saturable NLSE [15]
REFERENCES
[1] A. A. Aigner, A. R. Champneys and V. M. Rothos, A new barrier to the existence of moving
kinks in Frenkel-Kontorova lattices, Physica D, 186 (2003), 148170.
[2] O. M. Braun and Y. S. Kivshar, The Frenkel-Kontorova Model, Concepts, Methods and
Applications, Texts and Monographs in Physics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg New
York, 2004.
[3] L. A. Cisneros and A. A. Minzoni, Asymptotics for kink propagation in the discrete Sine-
Gordon equation, Physica D, 237 (2008), 5065.
[4] L. A. Cisneros and A. A. Minzoni, Asymptotics for supersonic soliton propagation in the
Toda lattice equation, Studies in Applied Mathematics, 120 (2008), 333349.
[5] M. Collins, A quasicontinuum approximation for solitons in an atomic chain, Chem. Phys.
Lett., 77 (1981), 342347.
[6] J. Dancz and S. A. Rice, Large amplitude vibrational motion in a one dimensional chain:
Coherent state representation, J. Chem. Phys., 67 (1977), 14181426.
[7] H. Dym and H. P. McKean, Fourier Series and Integrals, Probability and Mathematical
Statistics, No. 14, Academic Press, New York-London, 1972.
[8] J. C. Eilbeck and R. Flesch, Calculation of families of solitary waves on discrete lattices,
Phys. Lett. A, 149 (1990), 200202.
[9] E. Fermi, J. Pasta and S. Ulam, Los Alamos Rpt LA-1940 (1955) Collected Papers of Enrico
Fermi, in Univ. of Chicago Press, Vol. II, Chicago, (1965), 978.
[10] N. Flytzanis, St. Pnevmatikos and M. Peyrard, Discrete lattice solitons: Properties and
stability, J. Phys. A: Math. Gen., 22 (1989), 783801.
[11] G. Friesecke and R. L. Pego, Solitary waves on FPU lattices: I. Qualitative properties, renor-
malization and continuum limit, Nonlinearity, 12 (1999), 16011627.
994 A. B. ACEVES, L. A. CISNEROS-AKE AND A. A. MINZONI
[12] G. Friesecke and J. A. D. Wattis, Existence theorem for solitary waves on lattices, Commun.
Math. Phys., 161 (1994), 391418.
[13] B. L. Holian, Shock waves in the Toda lattice: Analysis, Phys. Rev. A, 24 (1981), 25952623.
[14] B. L. Holian and G. K. Straub, Molecular dynamics of shock waves in one-dimensional chains,
Phys. Rev. B, 18 (1978), 15931608.
[15] T. R. O. Melvin, A. R. Champneys, P. G. Kevrekidis and J. Cuevas, Radiationless traveling
waves in saturable nonlinear Schroedinger lattices, Phys. Rev. Lett., 97 (2006), 124101.
[16] S. P. Novikov, S. V. Manakov, L. P. Pitaevskii and V. E. Zakharov, Theory of Solitons. The
Inverse Scattering Transform, Translated from the Russian. Contemporary Soviet Mathe-
matics. Consultants Bureau [Plenum], New York, 1984.
[17] M. Peyrard and M. Kruskal, Kink dynamics in the highly discrete sine-Gordon system, Phys-
ica D, 14 (1984), 88102.
[18] T. J. Rolfe, S. A. Rice and J. Dancz, A numerical study of large amplitude motion on a chain
of coupled nonlinear oscillators, J. Chem. Phys., 70 (1979), 2633.
[19] P. Rosenau, Dynamics of dense lattice, Phys. Rev. B, 36 (1987), 58685876.
[20] M. Toda, Theory of Nonlinear Lattices, 2
nd
edition, Springer Series in Solid-State Science,
20, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1989.
[21] G. B. Whitham, Linear and Nonlinear Waves, Reprint of the 1974 original, Pure and
Applied Mathematics (New York), A Wiley-Interscience Publication, John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., New York, 1999.
Received August 2009; revised December 2009.
E-mail address: aaceves@smu.edu
E-mail address: cisneros@esfm.ipn.mx
E-mail address: tim@mym.iimas.unam.mx