Prethermalization in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou chains

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Lando, Gabriel M., Flach, Sergej
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Lando, Gabriel M.
Flach, Sergej
author_facet Lando, Gabriel M.
Flach, Sergej
contents The observation of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou (FPUT) paradox, namely the lack of equipartition in the evolution of a normal mode in a nonlinear chain on unexpectedly long times, is arguably the most famous numerical experiment in the history of physics. Seventy years after the original publication, most studies in FPUT chains still focus on long wavelength initial states similar to the original paper. It is shown here that all characteristic features of the FPUT paradox are rendered even more striking if modes with short(er) wavelengths are evolved instead. Since not every normal mode leads to equipartition, we also provide a simple technique to predict which modes, and in what perturbation order, are excited starting from an initial mode (root) in $α$-FPUT chains. The excitation sequences associated with a root are then numerically shown to spread energy at different speeds, leading to prethermalization regimes that become longer as a function of mode excitation number. This effect is visible in observables such as mode energies and spectral entropies and, surprisingly, also in the time evolution of invariant quantities such as Lyapunov times and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropies. Our findings generalize the original FPUT experiment, provide an original look at the paradox's source, and enrich the vast literature dedicated to studying equipartition in classical many-body systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_04725
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Prethermalization in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou chains
Lando, Gabriel M.
Flach, Sergej
Statistical Mechanics
Chaotic Dynamics
The observation of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou (FPUT) paradox, namely the lack of equipartition in the evolution of a normal mode in a nonlinear chain on unexpectedly long times, is arguably the most famous numerical experiment in the history of physics. Seventy years after the original publication, most studies in FPUT chains still focus on long wavelength initial states similar to the original paper. It is shown here that all characteristic features of the FPUT paradox are rendered even more striking if modes with short(er) wavelengths are evolved instead. Since not every normal mode leads to equipartition, we also provide a simple technique to predict which modes, and in what perturbation order, are excited starting from an initial mode (root) in $α$-FPUT chains. The excitation sequences associated with a root are then numerically shown to spread energy at different speeds, leading to prethermalization regimes that become longer as a function of mode excitation number. This effect is visible in observables such as mode energies and spectral entropies and, surprisingly, also in the time evolution of invariant quantities such as Lyapunov times and Kolmogorov-Sinai entropies. Our findings generalize the original FPUT experiment, provide an original look at the paradox's source, and enrich the vast literature dedicated to studying equipartition in classical many-body systems.
title Prethermalization in Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou chains
topic Statistical Mechanics
Chaotic Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.04725