title: Electronic and mechanical realizations of one-way coupling in one and two dimensions.
abstract: One-way or unidirectional coupling is a striking example of how topological considerations--the parity of an array of multistable elements combined with periodic boundary conditions--can qualitatively influence dynamics. Here we introduce a simple electronic model of one-way coupling in one and two dimensions and experimentally compare it to an improved mechanical model and an ideal mathematical model. In two dimensions, computation and experiment reveal richer one-way coupling phenomenology: in media where two-way coupling would dissipate all excitations, one-way coupling enables solitonlike waves to propagate in different directions with different speeds.
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, The University of Portland, Portland, Oregon 97203, USA.
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Breen
authors.forename: Aaron B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Doud
authors.forename: Jamie R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Grimm
authors.forename: Andrew H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Tanasse
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Tanasse
authors.forename: John F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lindner
authors.forename: Katsuo J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Maxted