Tristability in the pendula chain

Experiments on a chain of coupled pendula driven periodically at one end demonstrate the existence of a regime which produces an output frequency at an odd fraction of the driving frequency. The stationary state is then obtained with numerical simulations and modeled with an analytical solution of the continuous sine-Gordon equation that resembles a kinklike motion back and forth in the restricted geometry of the chain. This solution differs from the expressions used to understand nonlinear bistability where the synchronization constraint was the basic assumption. As a result the short pendula chain is shown to possess tristable stationary states and to act as a frequency divider.