title: Symmetry-induced pinning-depinning transition of a subharmonic wave pattern.
abstract: The stationary to drifting transition of a subharmonic wave pattern is studied in the presence of inhomogeneities and drift forces as the pattern wavelength is comparable with the system size. We consider a pinning-depinning transition of stationary subharmonic waves in a tilted quasi-one-dimensional fluidized shallow granular bed driven by a periodic air flow in a small cell. The transition is mediated by the competition of the inherent periodicity of the subharmonic pattern, the asymmetry of the system, and the finite size of the cell. Measurements of the mean phase velocity of the subharmonic pattern are in good agreement with those inferred from an amplitude equation, which takes into account asymmetry and finite-size effects of the system, emphasizing the main ingredients and mechanism of the transition.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 487-3, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Jeremías
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garay
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Marcel G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Clerc
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Falcón