Waves over a periodic progressive modulation: A python tutorial

Abstract: This chapter presents a selection of theoretical and numerical tools suitable for the study of wave propagation in time-dependent media. The focus is on one-dimensional spring-mass chains whose properties are modulated in space and time in a periodic progressive fashion. The chapter is written for the uninitiated newcomer as well as for the theoretically inclined numerical empiricist. Thus, whenever possible, deployed theory is motivated and exploited numerically, and code for example simulations is written in python. The chapter begins with an introduction to Mathieu's equation and its stability analysis using the monodromy matrix; generalizations to systems with multiple degrees of freedom are then pursued. The progressive character of the modulation leads to a factorization of the monodromy matrix and provides a "discrete change of variables" otherwise only available for continuous systems. Moreover, the factorization allows to reduce the computational complexity of dispersion diagrams and of long term behaviors. Chosen simulations illustrate salient features of non-reciprocity such as strong left-right biases in the speed and power of propagated waves.