Threshold behavior of a driven incommensurate harmonic chain.
01 January 1988
The dynamics of a one-dimensional harmonic chain in the presence of a strong, incommensurate, sinusoidal potential and a uniform force F are investigated numerically. A threshold force F sub T exists above which steady state motion occurs. Near threshold, the linear and nonlinear responses of the system exhibit nontrivial critical behavior. Critical exponents describing the transition to a moving state are calculated and scaling relations between them are conjectured.