Solitons in elastic solids (1938-2010)

Solitons in solids are much less studied than in fluids or in optics although the seminal Fermi-Pasta-Ulam numerical experiment and its interpretation by Kruskal et al. indeed belong to this framework. An inquisitive observer and then an active participant for almost forty years, the author presents here the various developments that took place over this period in the solid mechanics and dynamics of lattices and/or structural members, as also the original results that followed thereby. Most of the solutions obtained deviate from standard ones as the physical systems deduced from first principles generally are not exactly integrable. The emphasis is placed on the peculiarities of the solutions in terms of analytical expressions, their interpretation, and their eventual representation as quasi-particles in steady (inertial) or accelerated motion. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.