arXiv subjects

Vassos Achilleos

Publications and source records attributed to Vassos Achilleos.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Crossovers from nonlinear wave-packet acceleration to wave-mixing and self-trapping in the Hatano-Nelson model

We demonstrate that wave amplification enables even weak nonlinearities to reshape linear wave-packet transport in nonreciprocal systems. We study the dynamics of bulk Gaussian wave-packets in the Hatano--Nelson model with on-site cubic nonlinearity. We show that the interplay between nonlinearity and amplification generates growing frequency shifts that drive the wave-packet through three successive dynamical regimes: an early nonlinear-skin regime with coherent propagation, an intermediate wave-mixing regime driven by eigenmode resonances, and a self-trapping regime in which part of the packet localizes while the remainder ballistically spreads along the system favored direction. The crossover time scales are set by the width and averaged spacing of the eigenfrequency spectrum. Crucially, within the nonlinear-skin regime, we derive analytical predictions for the wave-packet dynamics and show that nonlinearity couples amplification, dispersion, and nonreciprocity, thereby modifying the magnitude of the wave-packet acceleration and introducing an explicit time dependence into its evolution. Focusing nonlinearities suppress the acceleration and cause it to decrease in time, whereas defocusing nonlinearities enhance it and cause it to increase. We further show that nonlinear interactions typically break down the wave-packet before the non-Hermitian jump can occur. Our results provide a route toward accurate control of waves in nonreciprocal metamaterials.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2026

Anisotropic Cylindrical Waves in a Square Lattice of Acoustic Waveguides

We investigate the propagation of cylindrical waves in a square network of acoustic waveguides. We establish, both theoretically and experimentally, the anisotropic dispersion relation governing wave propagation in the network, and demonstrate excellent agreement between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. Owing to this anisotropic band structure, each propagation direction exhibits distinct dispersive properties. Consequently, the network supports anisotropic cylindrical waves at both low- and high-amplitudes, with waveforms that vary markedly with direction: from nearly dispersionless pulses to Airy-like wave packets in the linear regime, and from sharp shock-like fronts to smooth solitary-like profiles in the nonlinear regime. The theoretical results are further corroborated by numerical simulations based on the two-dimensional Westervelt equation.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2026

Universal critical timescales in slow non-Hermitian dynamics

Non-Hermitian systems driven along slow parametric loops undergo non-adiabatic transitions whose outcome depends sensitively on the driving speed, yet no explicit formula has been available for the critical timescale $T_{\mathrm{cr}}$ at which these transitions develop. Using a $2\times 2$ Hamiltonian with circular parameter trajectories, we derive $T_{\mathrm{cr}} = \mathcal{G}\,\ln(1/|Δ|)$ in closed form for non-encircling loops, phase-shifted loops, offset loops, and loops encircling exceptional points, where $\mathcal{G}$ is a geometry-dependent growth factor and $Δ$ is the instability seed. This formula sharply separates the regime where the system remains in the averagely dominant eigenstate ($T< T_{\mathrm{cr}}$) from the superadiabatic regime where the instantaneous dominant eigenstate takes over ($T> T_{\mathrm{cr}}$), resolving the apparent tension between the previous literature. We identify two competing seeds: a geometric Stokes multiplier and the finite-precision floor. When the geometric seed vanishes, precision alone governs the transition, yielding $T_{\mathrm{cr}} \propto m\lnβ$, linear in the number of precision bits $m$. This provides a purely forward-evolution manifestation of precision-induced irreversibility (PIR)~\cite{PIR}, demonstrating that the fundamental limit identified through echo protocols also controls the outcome of slow non-Hermitian dynamics without requiring time reversal. For PT-symmetric energy spectra, $T_{\mathrm{cr}}$ additionally determines the onset of chirality: the dynamics is non-chiral for $T< T_{\mathrm{cr}}$ and chiral for $T> T_{\mathrm{cr}}$.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2026

Insensitive nonreciprocal edge breathers

We uncover subtle and previously unexplored phenomena arising from the interplay of nonlinearity and nonreciprocity in topological mechanical metamaterials. We study a nonreciprocal topological Klein-Gordon chain of asymmetrically coupled nonlinear oscillators, which serves as a minimal mass-spring model capturing the features of several active nonreciprocal metamaterials across mechanical, electronic, and acoustic platforms. We demonstrate that continuous families of nonreciprocal edge breathers (NEBs), namely boundary-localized, time-periodic waves, emerge from the linear edge mode as its amplitude increases. Remarkably, despite the absence of chiral or sublattice symmetries, we identify insensitive NEBs whose nonlinear frequency remains fixed to that of the linear edge mode with increasing nonlinearity. Our analysis reveals that the mechanism underlying this insensitivity stems from a competition between mode nonorthogonality and nonlinear interactions, yielding an exponential decay of the NEB nonlinear frequency shift with system size. Crucially, these insensitive NEBs also persist in the strongly nonlinear regime. Our work establishes a novel pathway toward realizing robust nonlinear topological waves in mechanical metamaterials without relying on symmetry-protected nonlinearities.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2025

Solution of Wave Acceleration and Non-Hermitian Jump in Nonreciprocal Lattices

The time evolution of initially localized wavepackets in the discrete Hatano-Nelson lattice displays a rich dynamical structure shaped by the interplay between dispersion and nonreciprocity. Our analysis reveals a characteristic evolution of the wave-packet center of mass, which undergoes an initial acceleration, subsequently slows down, and ultimately enters a regime of uniform motion, accompanied throughout by exponential amplification of the wave-packet amplitude. To capture this behavior, we develop a continuum approximation that incorporates higher-order dispersive and nonreciprocal effects and provides accurate analytical predictions across all relevant time scales. Building on this framework, we then demonstrate the existence of a non-Hermiticity-induced jump - an abrupt spatial shift of the wave-packet center even in the absence of disorder - and derive its underlying analytical foundation. The analytical predictions are in excellent agreement with direct numerical simulations of the Hatano-Nelson chain. Our results elucidate the interplay between dispersion and nonreciprocity in generating unconventional transport phenomena, and pave the way for controlling wave dynamics in nonreciprocal and non-Hermitian metamaterials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Energy transport and chaos in a one-dimensional disordered nonlinear stub lattice

We investigate energy propagation in a one-dimensional stub lattice in the presence of both disorder and nonlinearity. In the periodic case, the stub lattice hosts two dispersive bands separated by a flat band; however, we show that sufficiently strong disorder fills all intermediate band gaps. By mapping the two-dimensional parameter space of disorder and nonlinearity, we identify three distinct dynamical regimes (weak chaos, strong chaos, and self-trapping) through numerical simulations of initially localized wave packets. When disorder is strong enough to close the frequency gaps, the results closely resemble those obtained in the one-dimensional disordered discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation and Klein-Gordon lattice model. In particular, subdiffusive spreading is observed in both the weak and strong chaos regimes, with the second moment $m_2$ of the norm distribution scaling as $m_2 \propto t^{0.33}$ and $m_2 \propto t^{0.5}$, respectively. The system's chaotic behavior follows a similar trend, with the finite-time maximum Lyapunov exponent $Λ$ decaying as $Λ\propto t^{-0.25}$ and $Λ\propto t^{-0.3}$. For moderate disorder strengths, i.e., near the point of gap closing, we find that the presence of small frequency gaps does not exert any noticeable influence on the spreading behavior. Our findings extend the characterization of nonlinear disordered lattices in both weak and strong chaos regimes to other network geometries, such as the stub lattice, which serves as a representative flat-band system.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2025

Insensitive edge solitons in a non-Hermitian topological lattice

In this work, we demonstrate that the synergetic interplay of topology, nonreciprocity and nonlinearity is capable of unprecedented effects. We focus on a nonreciprocal variant of the Su-Shrieffer-Heeger chain with local Kerr nonlinearity. We find a continuous family of non-reciprocal edge solitons (NES) emerging from the topological edge mode, with near-zero energy, in great contrast from their reciprocal counterparts. Analytical results show that this energy decays exponentially towards zero when increasing the lattice size. Consequently, despite the absence of chiral and sublattice symmetries within the system, we obtain zero-energy NES, which are insensitive to growing Kerr nonlinearity. Even more surprising, these zero-energy NES also persist in the strong nonlinear limit. Our work may enable new avenues for the control of nonlinear topological waves without requiring the addition of complex chiral- or sublattice-preserving nonlinearities.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2025

Gradient catastrophe and Peregrine soliton in nonlinear flexible mechanical metamaterials

We explore the generation of extreme wave events in mechanical metamaterials using the regularization of the gradient catastrophe theory developed by A. Tovbis and M. Bertola for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. According to this theory, Peregrine solitons can locally emerge in the semiclassical limit of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Our objective is to determine whether the phenomenon of gradient catastrophe can occur in a class of architected structures designated as flexible mechanical metamaterials, both with and without losses. We demonstrate theoretically and numerically that this phenomenon can occur in a canonical example of such flexible mechanical metamaterial, a chain of rotating units, studied earlier for its ability to support robust nonlinear waves such as elastic vector solitons. We find that in the presence of weak losses, the gradient catastrophe persists although the amplitude of extreme generated events is smaller and their onset is delayed compared to the lossless configuration.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2025

Direct experimental observation of total absorption and loss compensation using sound waves with complex frequencies

In this study, we experimentally investigate the application of a transient signal with complex frequencies to the absorption and transmission of sound waves. Indeed, the emission of a wave with an exponentially varying amplitude in time is analogous, in the frequency domain, to a monochromatic wave with spatial gain or loss. Our results show that by exciting a non-critically coupled Helmholtz resonator with a wave having a growing amplitude, total absorption can still be achieved. Furthermore, the lossy propagation of a traveling wave in a duct is also studied, and it is shown that the losses embedded in the complex wavenumber can be compensated by using a transient signal with decreasing amplitude. These results confirm the potential of complex frequency excitation for exploring new means of manipulating sound waves to mimic gain and loss.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2025

Harnessing Nonlinearity to Tame Wave Dynamics in Nonreciprocal Active Systems

We present a mechanism to generate unidirectional pulse-shaped propagating waves, tamed to exponential growth and dispersion, in active systems with nonreciprocal and nonlinear couplings. In particular, when all bulk modes are exponentially localized at one side of the lattice (skin effect), it is expected that wave dynamics is governed by amplification or decay until reaching the boundaries, even in the presence of dissipation. Our analytical results, and experimental demonstrations in an active electrical transmission line metamaterial, reveal that nonlinearity is a crucial tuning parameter in mediating a delicate interplay between nonreciprocity, dispersion, and dissipation. Consequently, undistorted unidirectional solitonic pulses are supported both for low and high nonreciprocity and pulse amplitude strength. The proposed mechanism facilitates robust pulse propagation in signal processing and energy transmission applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Robustness of perfect transmission resonances to asymmetric perturbation

We investigate the impact of asymmetric perturbations on the perfect transmission resonances (PTRs) of one-dimensional finite periodic systems. With no perturbations, the scattering region consists of $N$ identical cells, and the transmission spectrum exhibits at least $N-1$ PTRs in each pass band of the Bloch dispersion of the unit cell. By introducing a perturbation, the periodic structure is broken, which \textit{a priori} results in the elimination of all PTRs. However, we demonstrate that PTRs can still arise under asymmetric perturbations when the unperturbed system possesses mirror symmetry, utilizing the $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetry of the unperturbed reflectionless eigenvalue problem. We also reveal an intriguing connection between two seemingly independent PTRs that lies in the symmetry of the unperturbed unit cell: If one PTR is preserved, then a dual one is necessarily also preserved. Our findings offer insights for the design of, for example, a robust antireflection setup at multiple wavelengths or all-optical diode devices.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2024

A nonreciprocal and tunable active acoustic scatterer

A passive loudspeaker mounted in a duct acts as a reciprocal scatterer for plane waves impinging on either of its sides. However, the reciprocity can be broken by means of an asymmetric electroacoustic feedback which supplies to the loudspeaker a signal picked-up from a microphone facing only one of its sides. This simple modification offers new opportunities for the control and manipulation of sound waves. In this paper, we investigate the scattering features of a pair of such actively controlled loudspeakers connected by means of a short and narrow duct. The theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that by tuning the feedback loops, the system exhibits several exotic effects, which include an asymmetric reflectionless configuration with one-way transmission or absorption, a directional amplifier with an isolation of 42 dB, and a quasi CPA-lasing configuration. All of these effects were achieved using a single setup in the subwavelength regime, highlighting the versatility of such an asymmetrically active scatterer.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2024

Topologically invisible defects in chiral mirror lattices

One of the hallmark of topological insulators is having conductivity properties that are unaffected by the possible presence of defects. In this work, we go beyond backscattering immunity and obtain topological invisibility across defects or disorder. Using a combination of chiral and mirror symmetry, the transmission coefficient is guaranteed to be unity. Importantly, but no phase shift is induced making the defect completely invisible. Many lattices possess the chiral-mirror symmetry, and we choose to demonstrate the principle on an hexagonal lattice model with Kekule distortion displaying topological edge waves, and we show analytically and numerically that the transmission across symmetry preserving defects is unity. We then realize this lattice in an acoustic system, and confirm the invisibility with numerical experiments. We foresee that the versatility of our model will trigger new experiments to observe topological invisibility in various wave systems, such as photonics, cold atoms or elastic waves.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Envelope vector solitons in nonlinear flexible mechanical metamaterials

In this paper, we employ a combination of analytical and numerical techniques to investigate the dynamics of lattice envelope vector soliton solutions propagating within a one-dimensional chain of flexible mechanical metamaterial. To model the system, we formulate discrete equations that describe the longitudinal and rotational displacements of each individual rigid unit mass using a lump element approach. By applying the multiple-scales method in the context of a semi-discrete approximation, we derive an effective nonlinear Schrödinger equation that characterizes the evolution of rotational and slowly varying envelope waves from the aforementioned discrete motion equations. We thus show that this flexible mechanical metamaterial chain supports envelope vector solitons where the rotational component has the form of either a bright or a dark soliton. In addition, due to nonlinear coupling, the longitudinal displacement displays kink-like profiles thus forming the 2-components vector soliton. These findings, which include specific vector envelope solutions, enrich our knowledge on the nonlinear wave solutions supported by flexible mechanical metamaterials and open new possibilities for the control of nonlinear waves and vibrations.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2023

Skin modes in a nonlinear Hatano-Nelson model

Non-Hermitian lattices with non-reciprocal couplings under open boundary conditions are known to possess linear modes exponentially localized on one edge of the chain. This phenomenon, dubbed non-Hermitian skin effect, induces all input waves in the linearized limit of the system to unidirectionally propagate toward the system's preferred boundary. Here we investigate the fate of the non-Hermitian skin effect in the presence of Kerr-type nonlinearity within the well-established Hatano-Nelson lattice model. Our method is to probe the presence of nonlinear stationary modes which are localized at the favored edge, when the Hatano-Nelson model deviates from the linear regime. Based on perturbation theory, we show that families of nonlinear skin modes emerge from the linear ones at any non-reciprocal strength. Our findings reveal that, in the case of focusing nonlinearity, these families of nonlinear skin modes tend to exhibit enhanced localization, bridging the gap between weakly nonlinear modes and the highly nonlinear states (discrete solitons) when approaching the anti-continuum limit with vanishing couplings. Conversely, for defocusing nonlinearity, these nonlinear skin modes tend to become more extended than their linear counterpart. To assess the stability of these solutions, we conduct a linear stability analysis across the entire spectrum of obtained nonlinear modes and also explore representative examples of their evolution dynamics.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2023

Emergent non-Hermitian models

The Hatano-Nelson and the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model are paradigmatic examples of non-Hermitian systems that host non-trivial boundary phenomena. In this work, we use recently developed graph-theoretical tools to design systems whose isospectral reduction -- akin to an effective Hamiltonian -- has the form of either of these two models. In the reduced version, the couplings and on-site potentials become energy-dependent. We show that this leads to interesting phenomena such as an energy-dependent non-Hermitian skin effect, where eigenstates can simultaneously localize on either ends of the systems, with different localization lengths. Moreover, we predict the existence of various topological edge states, pinned at non-zero energies, with different exponential envelopes, depending on their energy. Overall, our work sheds new light on the nature of topological phases and the non-Hermitian skin effect in one-dimensional systems.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

Latent Su-Schrieffer-Heeger models

The Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chain is the reference model of a one-dimensional topological insulator. Its topological nature can be explained by the quantization of the Zak phase, due to reflection symmetry of the unit cell, or of the winding number, due to chiral symmetry. Here, we harness recent graph-theoretical results to construct families of setups whose unit cell features neither of these symmetries, but instead a so-called latent or hidden reflection symmetry. This causes the isospectral reduction -- akin to an effective Hamiltonian -- of the resulting lattice to have the form of an SSH model. As we show, these latent SSH models exhibit features such as multiple topological transitions and edge states, as well as a quantized Zak phase. Relying on a generally applicable discrete framework, we experimentally validate our findings using electric circuits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Exact analogue of the Hatano-Nelson model in 1D continuous nonreciprocal systems

We propose a general framework that enables the exact mapping of continuous nonreciprocal 1D periodic systems to the Hatano-Nelson (HN) model. Our approach, based on the two-port transfer matrix, is broadband and is applicable across various physical systems and, as an illustration, we consider the implementation of our model in acoustic waveguides. Through theoretical analysis and experimental demonstrations, we successfully achieve the mapping to the HN model by utilizing active acoustic elements, thereby observing the renowned skin effect. Moreover, our experimental setup enables the exploration of the transition from periodic to open boundary conditions by employing diaphragms of varying radii. Our experimental results, unveil the exponential sensitivity of the system to changes in boundary conditions. By establishing a profound connection between continuous systems and the fundamental discrete HN model, our results significantly broaden the potential application of nonreciprocal wave systems and the underlying phenomena.

physics.app-ph↗