Periodically generated propagating pulses

Abstract

Certain equations with integral constraints have as solutions time-periodic pulses of a field-like unknown while a current-like unknown oscillates periodically with time. A general asymptotic theory of this phenomenon, the generalized Gunn effect, has been found recently. Here we extend this theory to the case of nonlinearities having only one stable zero, which is the case for the usual Gunn effect in n-GaAs. Our ideas are presented in the context of a simple scalar model where the waves can be constructed analytically and explicit expressions for asymptotic approximations can be found.