Dynamics and stabilization of topological edge solitons in driven-damped nonlinear SSH lattices

Abstract

We study topological edge solitons in a nonlinear Su--Schrieffer--Heeger (SSH) lattice subject to parametric driving and linear damping. Starting from a vertically driven pendulum chain, we derive an effective driven--damped nonlinear SSH model and investigate its stationary edge-localized states. Analytical calculations reveal the existence of two phase-locked dissipative edge-soliton families that emerge from the nonlinear continuation of the topological edge mode. Using numerical continuation and spectral stability analysis, we construct the corresponding nonlinear branches and determine their stability properties. We show that parametric driving and damping fundamentally modify the conservative edge-state family by generating two dissipative branches with markedly different stability characteristics: one branch remains predominantly unstable, whereas the other develops substantially larger stability regions and significantly weaker instability growth rates. Direct numerical simulations further demonstrate that the robust branch can remain strongly localized over long time intervals even when weakly unstable. Simulations of the full driven--damped Klein--Gordon pendulum chain confirm the persistence of the edge-localized dynamics predicted by the reduced model. These results identify parametric driving and damping as an effective mechanism for enhancing the robustness and persistence of nonlinear topological localization in active lattice systems.