title: Transition to strictly solitary motion in the Burridge-Knopoff model of multicontact friction.
abstract: We show that, in the continuous 1D Burridge-Knopoff model of multicontact friction, motion occurs via stick-slip sliding on a finite length rather than in avalanches, excluding the occurrence of self-organized criticality. We present strong numerical evidence that a transition from collective to strictly solitary motion occurs at a critical value of the interblock interactions. The solitary motion corresponds to successive stick-slip motion of one block between immobile neighbors, repeated periodically in time. This state persists also with open boundary conditions and moderate temperature.
authors.affiliation: Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: B A H
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Huisman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fasolino