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Experimental study of the FermiPastaUlam recurrence in a bi-modal electrical transmission line

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IOP PUBLISHING Phys. Scr. 88 (2013) 055802 (4pp)

PHYSICA SCRIPTA doi:10.1088/0031-8949/88/05/055802

Experimental study of the FermiPastaUlam recurrence in a bi-modal electrical transmission line

Abdou K Farota1 and Mansour M Faye2
1 2

Section de Physique Appliqu ee, UFR SAT, Universit e Gaston Berger, Saint-Louis, Senegal D epartement de Physique, Facult e des Sciences et Techniques, Universit e Cheikh AntaDiop, BP 5005, Dakar-Fann, Senegal E-mail: mansour.faye@ucad.edu.sn

Received 24 November 2012 Accepted for publication 24 September 2013 Published 23 October 2013 Online at stacks.iop.org/PhysScr/88/055802 Abstract We report on the experimental observation of the FermiPastaUlam (FPU) recurrence in an experimental bi-modal nonlinear transmission line. The FPU recurrence is observed in the two transmission modes known as the low frequency mode and the high frequency mode. In each case, a spectrum analysis is performed in order to study the waves along the line. PACS numbers: 84.40.Az, 05.45.a, 85.30.Kk

1. Introduction
Before the famous numerical experiment of E Fermi, J Pasta and S Ulam with a one-dimensional lattice of nonlinear oscillators, in which they studied the long term evolution of the energy transfer between spectral modes, it was commonly admitted that such systems would exhibit thermalization. Instead, they found that the system exhibits a complicated quasi-periodic behavior, with only a few modes involved. This phenomenon is referred to as FermiPastaUlam (FPU) recurrence [1]. Afterward, FPU recurrence and its related phenomena were studied theoretically and numerically. It has been shown that FPU recurrence is possible for many nonlinear wave equations governed by the Kortewegde Vries equation [2] or the nonlinear Schr odinger equation [3]. Contrarily to the numerous theoretical works and simulations about FPU recurrence, there are some experimental FPU recurrence observations touching multiple domains, such as electrical networks [4], hydrodynamics [5], optics [6, 7] and magnetic materials [8]. In the case of nonlinear electrical transmission lines, one notes that only a few experimental works are devoted to bi-modal transmission lines [4, 9] and that the FPU phenomenon was briey studied only at a descriptive level [4]. In this paper, we present experimental results of the FPU recurrence on a bi-modal nonlinear electrical transmission line. We examine the recurrence in the low frequency (LF) mode and the high frequency (HF)

mode and we explore the rst FPU recurrence and the FPU recurrences of upper orders. An original interpretation based on the signals spectrum analysis is presented. In section 1, we measure experimentally the dispersion curve for the linear waves. In sections 2 and 3, we examine the spatial FPU recurrence in the LF mode and in the HF mode respectively. In section 4, we study the variation of the recurrence period with the amplitude of the signal in the LF mode. The last section summarizes the paper.

2. The experimental line

The experiments are carried out on a nonlinear electrical network (gure 1) consisting of a bi-periodic arrangement of 144 varactor diodes (BB112) biased by a constant reverse voltage V0 = 1.5 V. Under these conditions the value of the capacity is C0 = 395 pF. The bi-periodic conguration of the line is due to linear inductances connected to each varactor diode; the nonlinearity is due to the varactor diodes. Inductances L 1 = 220 H and L 2 = 470 H presenting a resistor of 5 and 8 , respectively, are alternatively used along the line. At the end of the line, a variable resistor carefully adjusted is used in order to minimize reections. For generating the waves and observing or storing the waveforms, a multifunction Handyscope HS3-100 is used. The Handyscope HS3-100 is a computer controlled multifunction instrument consisting of a multimeter, a digital

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2013 The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Phys. Scr. 88 (2013) 055802

A K Farota and M M Faye

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the experimental apparatus.

Figure 3. Evolution on an initial sinusoidal wave of frequency f = 475 kHz and amplitude V = 1.5 V measured in the inductances L 2 . Scales: 1 V per division and 5 s per division. Figure 2. Dispersion curve of the bi-inductance line: lled triangles refer to experimental results and solid lines to the calculated dispersion curves.

the theoretical calculations f 1 = 550 kHz, f 2 = 805 kHz and f 3 = 970 kHz, respectively.

oscilloscope, a spectrum analyzer and a transient recorder. A powerful arbitrary waveform generator module presenting a bandwidth of 2 MHz and a sampling rate of 50 MS s1 is able to rebuilt stored waves and send them into the line again. This arrangement allows us to work on the long lines that we want. The waveforms are observed and stored by the two-channel numerical oscilloscope module. The calculated dispersion curve of the line is given by 2 1 1 1 4 2 f2 = (2.1) sin k , 4 2 C 0 L L L1 L2 where 1/ L = 1/ L 1 + 1/ L 2 , f is the frequency of the waves and k is the wave number. The minus and the plus sign correspond to LF mode and the HF mode, respectively. An experimental measured dispersion curve (lled triangles) for the linear waves is presented in gure 2. It was obtained by launching at the entrance of the line a small amplitude (0.05 Vpp ) sine wave and measuring the phase velocity of the wave with two movable probes. We note that, in general, the experimental results t well with the theoretical curve. The LF and HF modes are separated by a gap zone and the cutoff frequencies experimentally measured f 1 = (590 15) kHz, f 2 = (830 20) kHz and f 3 = (975 25) kHz are in good agreement with
2

3. FPU recurrence in the LF mode

Nowadays, it is usually accepted that FPU recurrence is bound to modulational instability (MI), which occurs when the energy is transferred between the spectral modes of the signal [10]. To observe FPU recurrence, the frequencies of the signal have been selected in the domains where the system is expected to present MI. A sinusoidal wave is introduced into the line and the waveforms at various points along the line are observed. Figure 3 shows the input sine wave of frequency f = 475 kHz and amplitude V = 1.5 V and the following waveforms measured in the cells containing the inductances L 2 (odd numbered cells). The peaks of the waves are divided in two parts before the sinusoidal wave shape is recovered at cell 22. The waveforms measured at cells 44, 66, 88 and 110 conrm the value of the recurrence period n = 22 cells (gure 4). Note that for higher order cells, the amplitude of the sinusoidal wave gets smaller because of the ohmic losses. The waveforms in the inductances L 1 (even numbered cells) have also been observed; the recurrence period for that type of cell is the same as in odd numbered cells. Figure 5 shows the waveforms measured at the rst recurrence in cells 22 and 23 with inductance L 2 and L 1 , respectively. The following recurrences observed in the cells containing the inductances L 1 occur at cells 45, 67, 89, 111, etc. Nevertheless, between two recurrences, the waveforms measured in the inductances L 2 and L 1 present a sensible difference (gure 6).

Phys. Scr. 88 (2013) 055802

A K Farota and M M Faye

Figure 4. Observation of the ve rst recurrences in the line in the LF mode for a signal of frequency f = 475 kHz and amplitude V = 1.5 V.

Figure 7. Fourier transform of the waveforms measured in cell 10 (inductance L 2 ) and in cell 11 (inductance L 1 ) for a signal in the LF mode of frequency f = 475 kHz.

Figure 5. First recurrence observed in cells 22 and 23 presenting inductances L 2 and L 1 , respectively, in the LF mode for a signal of frequency f = 475 kHz and of amplitude V = 1.5 V.

Figure 8. Fourier transform of the signals observed at the rst recurrence in cells 22 and 23 for inductances L 2 and L 1 , respectively. The contribution of the high order harmonics is really marginal in comparison with the zero-order mode for a signal of frequency f = 475 kHz.

Figure 6. Waveforms measured in cells 10 and 11 presenting inductance L 2 and L 1 , respectively, for a signal in the LF mode of frequency f = 475 kHz and of amplitude V = 1.5 V.

We show in gure 7 that the spectral decomposition of the waveforms measured in inductances L 1 and L 2 situated in cells 10 and 11, respectively, contains the zero-order
3

mode (475 kHz) and the higher-order harmonics 950 kHz, 1.425 MHz, 1.9 MHz, etc. The waveform measured in cell 10 (inductance L 2 ) is mainly composed of the zero-order mode and the three rst harmonics, while for the waveform measured in cell 11 (inductance L 1 ), the contribution of the zero-order mode and the following higher order harmonics are more important. In fact, in a spectral point of view, the waveform measured in the two types of inductances are composed of the same components, only the relative contribution of the high order harmonics explains the difference of shape observed in gure 6. On the other hand, when the recurrence occurs, the waveforms observed are almost perfectly sinusoidal as the contribution of the high order harmonics become really marginal in comparison to that of the zero-order mode (gure 8).

Phys. Scr. 88 (2013) 055802

A K Farota and M M Faye

been determined in each case. The experimental recurrence period measured is plotted as a function of the inverse of the square root of the amplitude (gure 10). A linear dependence as predicted by Toda [10], in the case of a nonlinear mono-inductance, a transmission electrical line is observed.

6. Conclusion
In this work, FPU recurrence has been experimentally investigated in a bi-modal nonlinear transmission line, both in the LF mode and in the HF mode of the dispersion curve. The experiments showed multiple recurrences of the signal in the LF mode and in the HF mode. A Fourier analysis of the signal measured in the inductances L 1 and L 2 has been performed in order to study the evolution of the signal along the bi-periodic line. It has been shown that the relative contribution of the high order harmonics of the signal explains the difference in the waveforms measured in the two types of cells. The variation of the recurrence period with the amplitude of the signal has been performed in the LF mode and a linear dependence of the recurrence period as the inverse of the square root of the amplitude of the signal has been observed.

Figure 9. Evolution of the waveforms measured in the inductance L 1 between two recurrences for a signal in the HF mode of frequency f = 910 kHz and amplitude V = 2.2 V. Scales: 0.6 V per division and 1 s per division.

Acknowledgment
We thank Dr F B Pelap, the University of Dschang (Cameroon) for stimulating discussions.

References
Figure 10. Recurrence period (in number of cells) is plotted as a function of the inverse of the square root of the amplitude of the signal for a wave in the LF mode with frequency f = 475 kHz and a line bias voltage V0 = 1.5 V. [1] Fermi E, Pasta J and Ulam S 1955 Studies in Nonlinear Problems Los Alamos report L A 1940 reproduced in 1974 Nonlinear Wave Motion (Lectures in Applied Mathematics vol 15) (Providence, RI: AMS) [2] Zabusky N J and Kruskal M D 1965 Interaction of solitons in a collisionless plasma and the recurrence of initial states Phys. Rev. Lett. 15 2403 [3] Akhmediev N and Korneev V 1986 Modulation instability and periodic solutions of the nonlinear Schr odinger equation Theor. Math. Phys. 69 108993 [4] Kofane T, Michaux B and Remoissenet M 1987 Theoretical and experimental studies of diatomic lattice solitons using an electrical transmission line J. Phys. C.: Solid State Phys. 21 1395412 [5] Lake B M, Yuen H C, Rungaldier H and Ferguson W E 1977 Nonlinear deep-water waves: theory and experiment: 2. Evolution of a continuous wave train J. Fluid Mech. 83 4974 [6] Beeckman J, Hutsebaut X, Haelterman M and Neyts K 2007 Induced modulation instability and recurrence in nematic liquid crystals Opt. Express 15 1118595 [7] Zhao B and Tang D Y 2003 Experimental observation of FPU recurrence in a ber ring laser Opt. Express 11 33049 [8] Scott M M, Kalinikos B A and Patton C E 2003 Spatial recurrence for nonlinear magnetostatic wave excitations J. Appl. Phys. 94 587780 [9] Essimbi B Z and J ager B 2006 Observation of localized solitary waves along a bi-modal transmission line J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 39 3903 [10] Toda M 1975 Studies of a non-linear lattice Phys. Rep. 18 1124

4. FPU recurrence in the HF mode

It is more difcult to observe FPU recurrence in the HF mode. This is mainly due to the fact that in the HF mode the amplitude of the signal is less important than in the LF mode because of the more important losses. On the other hand, the recurring periods for higher frequencies are smaller. We show in gure 9 a series of waveforms for a signal taken in the HF mode of frequency f = 910 kHz and amplitude V = 2.2 V. For the inductances L 1 , situated in the even numbered cells, the recurrences appear at cells 5, 11, 17, 23, etc; for the inductances L 2 , situated in odd numbered cells, the recurrences appear at cells 6, 12, 18, 24, etc. We assume then that the recurrence period in the HF mode is n = 6 cells.

5. Evolution of the recurrence period with the amplitude of the signal

We have also examined the evolution of the recurrence period with the amplitude of the signal taken in the LF mode. For a frequency f = 475 kHz, the value of the amplitude varies from 0.5 to 2.5 V, and the recurrence period has