title: Modulational instability and resonant wave modes act on the metastability of oscillator chains.
abstract: We describe the emergence and interactions of breather modes and resonant wave modes within a two-dimensional ringlike oscillator chain in a microcanonical situation. Our analytical results identify different dynamical regimes characterized by the potential dominance of either type of mode. The chain is initially placed in a metastable state, which it can leave by passing over the brim of the applied Mexican-hat-like potential. We elucidate the influence of the different wave modes on the mean-first passage time. A central finding is that also in this complex potential landscape a fast noise-free escape scenario solely relying on nonlinear cooperative effects is accomplishable even in a low-energy setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Torsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3HF, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hennig
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, D-12489 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schimansky-Geier
mesh_terms: D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D013997:Time Factors