Nonlinear Dynamics of a Sliding Chain in a Periodic Potential

Nonlinear dynamics of the sliding process of a chain driven with a constant velocity at one end in a periodic substrate potential is investigated. The driven chain exhibits distinctly different dynamical characteristics at different velocities. In the low velocity region, the chain moves in a stick-slip manner. When the driving velocity is increased, the stick-slip behaviour is replaced by complicated and regular oscillatory motions. The dependence of the dynamics on the coupling strength is studied and the step-like behaviour is found, where different steps correspond to different dynamical phases.