Localisation of a twisted conducting rod in a uniform magnetic field: the Hamiltonian-Hopf-Hopf bifurcation

We study localised (multi-pulse homoclinic) post-buckling solutions for an extensible conducting rod under end loads and placed in a uniform magnetic field. The homoclinic bifurcation behaviour is found to be organised by a codimension-two Hamiltonian-Hopf-Hopf bifurcation. We predict new stability results for twisted magnetic rods which are relevant for electrodynamic space tethers and potentially for conducting nanowires in future electromechanical devices.

Conference paper

ENOC 2011