Soliton motion in a parametrically ac-driven damped Toda lattice

We demonstrate that a staggered parametric ac driving term can support stable progressive motion of a soliton in a Toda lattice with friction, while an unstaggered drivng force cannot. A physical context of the model is that of a chain of anharmonically coupled particles adsorbed on a solid surface of a finite size. The ac driving force models a standing acoustic wave excited on the surface. Simulations demonstrate that the state left behind the moving soliton, with the particles shifted from their equilibrium positions, gradually relaxes back to the equilibrium state that existed before the passage of the soliton. Perturbation theory predicts that the ac-driven soliton exists if the amplitude of the drive exceeds a certain threshold. The analytical prediction for the threshold is in reasonable agreement with that found numerically. Collisions between two counter propagating solitons were also simulated, demonstrating that the collisions are, essentially fully elastic.