Observation of soliton fusion in a Josephson array

Reproduced neuron-like excitability and bursting synchronization of memristive Josephson junctions loaded inductor

Employing electronic component including memristor and Josephson junction to mimic biological neuron or synapse has elicited intense research in recent years. Neurons described by nonlinear oscillators can exhibit complex electrical activities. Josephson junctions are excellent candidates for neuron-inspired components because of their physical properties with low energy costs and high efficiency. In this paper, we revisit a prior work on memristive Josephson junction (MJJ) to identify the dynamical mechanisms to mimic neuron-like excitability and spiking. The inductive memristive Josephson junction (L-MJJ) model is further developed by adding an inductor with internal resistor. It is found that the L-MJJ model can reproduce square-wave bursting of the classical neuronal model from the neurodynamics point of view. The coupling L-MJJ oscillators can achieve in-phase and antiphase bursting synchronization similar with nonlinear coupling neurons. From the framework of nonlinear dynamics theory, this work aspires to build effective bridge between superconducting physics and theoretical neuroscience. Obtained results confirm the potential feasibility of this junction in designing a neuron-inspired computation to explore dynamics of larger-scale neuromorphic network.

Traveling of extreme events in network of counter-rotating nonlinear oscillators

We study the propagation of rare or extreme events in a network of coupled nonlinear oscillators, where counter-rotating oscillators play the role of the malfunctioning agents. The extreme events originate from the coupled counter-oscillating pair of oscillators through a mechanism of saddle-node bifurcation. A detailed study of the propagation and the destruction of the extreme events and how these events depend on the strength of the coupling is presented. Extreme events travel only when nearby oscillators are in synchronization. The emergence of extreme events and their propagation are observed in a number of excitable systems for different network sizes and for different topologies.

Neuron-like spiking and bursting in Josephson junctions: A review

The superconducting Josephson junction shows spiking and bursting behaviors, which have similarities with neuronal spiking and bursting. This phenomenon had been observed long ago by some researchers; however, they overlooked the biological similarity of this particular dynamical feature and never attempted to interpret it from the perspective of neuronal dynamics. In recent times, the origin of such a strange property of the superconducting junction has been explained and such neuronal functional behavior has also been observed in superconducting nanowires. The history of this research is briefly reviewed here with illustrations from studies of two junction models and their dynamical interpretation in the sense of biological bursting.

Extreme events in a network of heterogeneous Josephson junctions

We report intermittent large spiking events in a heterogeneous network of forced Josephson junctions under the influence of repulsive interaction. The response of the individual junctions has been inspected instead of the collective response of the ensemble, which reveals the large spiking events in a subpopulation with characteristic features of extreme events (EE). The network splits into three clusters of junctions, one in coherent libration, one in incoherent rotational motion, and another subpopulation originating EE, which resembles a chimeralike pattern. EE migrates spatially from one to another subpopulation of junctions with the repulsive strength. The origin of EE in a subpopulation and chimera pattern is a generic effect of distributed damping parameter and repulsive interaction, which we verify with another network of the Liénard system. EE originates in the subpopulation via a local riddling of in-phase synchronization. The probability density function of event heights confirms the rare occurrence of large events and the return time of EE as expressed by interevent intervals in the subgroup follows a Poisson distribution. The mechanism of the origin of such a unique clustering is explained qualitatively.

Embedded solitons in the double sine-Gordon lattice with next-neighbor interactions

Topological solitons can propagate without radiation in discrete media. These solutions are known as embedded solitons (ES). They come as isolated solutions and exist despite their resonance with the linear spectrum of the respective lattices. In this paper the properties of embedded solitons in the discrete double sine-Gordon equation with next-neighbor and second-neighbor interactions are investigated. Depending on the sign of these interactions they can be either destructive or favorable for the ES creation. The ES existence area depends on the width of the linear spectrum: narrowing of the spectrum widens the ES existence range and vice versa. The application to the Josephson junction arrays is discussed.

Topologically Enforced Bifurcations in Superconducting Circuits

The relationship of topological insulators and superconductors and the field of nonlinear dynamics is widely unexplored. To address this subject, we adopt the linear coupling geometry of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, a paradigmatic example for a topological insulator, and render it nonlinearly in the context of superconducting circuits. As a consequence, the system exhibits topologically enforced bifurcations as a function of the topological control parameter, which finally gives rise to chaotic dynamics, separating phases that exhibit clear topological features.

Experimental Study of Spectral Properties of a Frenkel-Kontorova System

We report on microwave emission from linear parallel arrays of underdamped Josephson junctions, which are described by the Frenkel-Kontorova (FK) model. Electromagnetic radiation is detected from the arrays when biased on current singularities (steps) appearing at voltages V(n)=Φ(0)(nc̅/L), where Φ(0)=2.07×10(-15)  Wb is the magnetic flux quantum, and c̅, L, and n are, respectively, the speed of light in the transmission line embedding the array, L its physical length, and n an integer. The radiation, detected at fundamental frequency c̅/2L when biased on different singularities, indicates shuttling of bunched 2π kinks (magnetic flux quanta). Resonance of flux-quanta motion with the small-amplitude oscillations induced in the arrays gives rise to fine structures in the radiation spectrum, which are interpreted on the basis of the FK model describing the resonance. The impact of our results on design and performances of new digital circuit families is discussed.

Bursting dynamics in a population of oscillatory and excitable Josephson junctions

We report an emergent bursting dynamics in a globally coupled network of mixed population of oscillatory and excitable Josephson junctions. The resistive-capacitive shunted junction (RCSJ) model of the superconducting device is considered for this study. We focus on the parameter regime of the junction where its dynamics is governed by the saddle-node on invariant circle (SNIC) bifurcation. For a coupling value above a threshold, the network splits into two clusters when a reductionism approach is applied to reproduce the bursting behavior of the large network. The excitable junctions effectively induce a slow dynamics on the oscillatory units to generate parabolic bursting in a broad parameter space. We reproduce the bursting dynamics in a mixed population of dynamical nodes of the Morris-Lecar model.

Dissipative Phase Solitons in Semiconductor Lasers

We experimentally demonstrate the existence of nondispersive solitary waves associated with a 2π phase rotation in a strongly multimode ring semiconductor laser with coherent forcing. Similarly to Bloch domain walls, such structures host a chiral charge. The numerical simulations based on a set of effective Maxwell-Bloch equations support the experimental evidence that only one sign of chiral charge is stable, which strongly affects the motion of the phase solitons. Furthermore, the reduction of the model to a modified Ginzburg-Landau equation with forcing demonstrates the generality of these phenomena and exposes the impact of the lack of parity symmetry in propagative optical systems.

Fluxon mobility in an array of asymmetric superconducting quantum interference devices

Fluxon dynamics in the dc-biased array of asymmetric three-junction superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) is investigated. The array of SQUIDs is described by the discrete double sine-Gordon equation. It appears that this equation possesses a finite set of velocities at which the fluxon propagates with the constant shape and without radiation. The signatures of these velocities appear on the respective current-voltage characteristics of the array as inaccessible voltage intervals (gaps). The critical depinning current has a clear minimum as a function of the asymmetry parameter (the ratio of the critical currents of the left and right junctions of the SQUID), which coincides with the minimum of the Peierls-Nabarro potential.

Formation of a two-kink soliton pair in perturbed sine-Gordon models due to kink-internal-mode instabilities

The existence of two-kink soliton solutions in polynomial potentials was first reported by Bazeia et al. in a special type of scalar field systems [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 241601 (2003)]. A general feature of these potentials is that they possess two minima and a local metastable minimum between them. In the present work we investigate the appearance of this special kind of soliton in the sine-Gordon model under the perturbation of a space-dependent force. We show that a pair of solitons is emitted during the process of kink breakup by internal mode instabilities. A possible explanation of these phenomena is an interplay between the solitons repelling interaction and the external force, resulting in a separation or a packing of several kinks.