Numerical study of entrained soliton motion in long Josephson junctions

Abstract

We present the results of numerical simulations of entrainment by microwaves of a soliton in Josephson junctions of both the overlap and in-line geometries. The computation was based on the full partial differential equations with boundary conditions, making no use of perturbation theory or Fourier expansion. We confirm the perturbation prediction for the range of phase lock for overlap junctions, but we observe a major departure for the in-line geometry, due to soliton creation and annihilation. Outside the range of entrainment, the perturbation predictions are not reliable in either case: we observe quasiperiodicity, intermittency, or chaotic creation and annihilation, depending on junction geometry and parameter values.