title: Curvature-induced symmetry breaking in nonlinear Schrodinger models
abstract: We consider a curved chain of nonlinear oscillators and show that the interplay of curvature and nonlinearity leads to a symmetry breaking when an asymmetric stationary state becomes energetically more favorable than a symmetric stationary state. We show that the energy of localized states decreases with increasing curvature, i.e., bending is a trap for nonlinear excitations. A violation of the Vakhitov-Kolokolov stability criterion is found in the case where the instability is due to the softening of the Peierls internal mode.
authors.affiliation: Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, 03143 Kiev, Ukraine.
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Gaididei
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Mingaleev
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Christiansen