Bifurcations of periodic orbits in the generalised nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

Abstract

We focus on the existence and persistence of families of saddle periodic orbits in a four-dimensional Hamiltonian reversible ordinary differential equation derived by using a travelling wave ansatz from a generalised nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GNLSE) with quartic dispersion. In this way, we are able to characterise different saddle periodic orbits with different signatures that serve as organising centres of homoclinic orbits in the ODE and solitons in the GNLSE. To achieve our objectives, we employ numerical continuation techniques to compute these saddle periodic orbits, and study how they organise themselves as surfaces in phase space that undergo changes as a single parameter is varied. Notably, different surfaces of saddle periodic orbits can interact with each other through bifurcations that can drastically change their overall geometry or even create new surfaces of periodic orbits. Particularly we identify three different bifurcations: symmetry-breaking, period-k multiplying, and saddle-node bifurcations. Each bifurcation exhibits a degenerate case, which subsequently gives rise to two bifurcations of the same type that occur at particular energy levels that vary as a parameter is gradually increased. Additionally, we demonstrate by computing sequences of period-k multiplying bifurcations how these degenerate bifurcations induce structural changes in the periodic orbits that can support homoclinic orbits.