Shock Waves in Falling Coupled Harmonic Oscillators

Abstract

Shock waves propagate in falling coupled harmonic oscillators. The bottom end of coupled harmonic oscillators does not fall downwards until a shock wave reaches the bottom end. The exact solution can be expressed by the Fourier series expansion, and an approximate solution can be expressed by the integral of the Airy function. The width of the shock wave increases slowly in accordance with a power law.