Integrable approximations of dispersive shock waves of the granular chain

Abstract

In the present work we revisit the shock wave dynamics in a granular chain with precompression. By approximating the model by an α-Fermi–Pasta–Ulam–Tsingou chain, we leverage the connection of the latter in the strain variable formulation to two separate integrable models, one continuum, namely the KdV equation, and one discrete, namely the Toda lattice. We bring to bear the Whitham modulation theory analysis of such integrable systems and the analytical approximation of their dispersive shock waves in order to provide, through the lens of the reductive connection to the granular crystal, an approximation to the shock wave of the granular problem. A detailed numerical comparison of the original granular chain and its approximate integrable-system-based dispersive shocks proves very favorable in a wide parametric range. The gradual deviations between (approximate) theory and numerical computation, as amplitude parameters of the solution increase are quantified and discussed.