We study the properties of discrete breathers, also known as intrinsic localized modes, in the one-dimensional Frenkel-Kontorova lattice of oscillators subject to damping and external force. The system is studied in the whole range of values of the coupling parameter, from $C=0\mathrm{}$ (uncoupled limit) up to values close to the continuum limit (forced and damped sine-Gordon model). As this parameter is varied, the existence of different bifurcations is investigated numerically. Using Floquet spectral analysis, we give a complete characterization of the most relevant bifurcations, and we find (spatial) symmetry-breaking bifurcations that are linked to breather mobility, just as it was found in Hamiltonian systems by other authors. In this way moving breathers are shown to exist even at remarkably high levels of discreteness. We study mobile breathers and characterize them in terms of the phonon radiation they emit, which explains successfully the way in which they interact. For instance, it is possible to form “bound states” of moving breathers, through the interaction of their phonon tails. Over all, both stationary and moving breathers are found to be generic localized states over large values of C, and they are shown to be robust against low temperature fluctuations.

• Received 6 December 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.63.066603