Discrete breathers in a nonlinear polarizability model of ferroelectrics

We present a family of discrete breathers, which exists in a nonlinear polarizability model of ferroelectric materials. The core-shell model is set up in its nondimensionalized Hamiltonian form and its linear spectrum is examined in a range of temperatures. Subsequently, seeking localized solutions in the gap of the linear spectrum, we establish that numerically exact and potentially stable discrete breathers exist for a wide range of frequencies therein. In addition, we present nonlinear normal mode, extended spatial profile solutions from which the breathers bifurcate, as well as other associated phenomena such as the formation of phantom breathers within the model. The full bifurcation picture of the emergence and disappearance of the breathers is complemented by direct numerical simulations of their dynamical instability, when the latter arises. The effect of breathers on properties such as nonlinear dielectric response is discussed.