Quasi-particles associated with Bleustein–Gulyaev SAWs: Perturbations by elastic nonlinearities

In the line of previous works studying the possibility to associate quasi-particles with surface acoustic waves (SAWs) on deformable solids, here we consider perturbations caused by a small elastic nonlinearity. More specifically, the problem considered deals with surface acoustic waves of the Bleustein–Gulyaev (BG) piezoelectric type, allowing for the existence of a transverse (SH) elastic displacement coupled to a quasi-electrostatic electric field. It is shown that the resulting quasi-particle has a Newtonian inertial, conservative, motion parallel to the limiting surface, with both velocity and “mass” perturbed by the elastic nonlinearity as compared to the standard BG case.

► We study the influence of weak elastic nonlinearities on surface quasi-particles. ► Quasi-particles here are associated with surface acoustic waves. ► The case considered is that of piezoelectric shear-horizontal surface waves. ► Only the “mass” of the quasi-particles is particularly perturbed.