STABILITY OF METASTABLE STRUCTURES IN DISSIPATIVE AC DYNAMICS OF THE FRENKEL-KONTOROVA MODEL

In this paper we address the question of the survival of metastable st ructures as steady states of the dissipative dynamics of the Frenkel-K ontorova model. For constant driving force the answer is negative as a consequence of the asymptotic uniqueness of the steady state. On the contrary, when the system is driven by periodic external forces, synch ronization to the frequency of the force sustains under some condition s the stable motion of metastable structures. Plausibility arguments l eading to this conclusion are confirmed by numerical results on severa l types of metastable structures. We discuss the applicability of thes e results to models for charge-density-wave dynamics and Josephson-jun ction arrays.