q-Breathers and the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam Problem

The Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) paradox consists of the nonequipartition of energy among normal modes of a weakly anharmonic atomic chain model. In the harmonic limit each normal mode corresponds to a periodic orbit in phase space and is characterized by its wave number q. We continue normal modes from the harmonic limit into the FPU parameter regime and obtain persistence of these periodic orbits, termed here q-breathers (QB). They are characterized by time periodicity, exponential localization in the q-space of normal modes and linear stability up to a size-dependent threshold amplitude. Trajectories computed in the original FPU setting are perturbations around these exact QB solutions. The QB concept is applicable to other nonlinear lattices as well.