A molecular-dynamics model of the behavior of a vacancy in the chain of an equilibrium polymer crystal in the 'united atoms' approximation for polyethylene is developed for the first time. It is shown that a defect of this type in a polymer crystal has a soliton mobility, as opposed to vacancies in crystals of low-molecular substances.
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics, vol.88, No.3, pp. 586-589 (1999)

The necessary conditions of the applicability of the Frenkel-Kontorova one-dimensional model [the approximation of immobile neighboring chains plus sine-Gordon (continual) equation for nonlinear dynamics of the chain under consideration] to describing the dynamics of vacancies in a polymeric crystal chain are determined. It is shown that these conditions are satisfied for polyethylene crystals. The physical mechanism of model applicability limitations is established.
Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics vol.93, No.4, pp.895-902 (2001)

We investigate a two-dimensional s2Dd strongly anisotropic crystal s2D SACd on substrate: 2D system of coupled linear chains of particles with strong intrachain and weak interchain interactions, each chain being subjected to the sine background potential. Nonlinear dynamics of one of these chains when the rest of them are fixed is reduced to the well known Frenkel-Kontorova sFKd model. Depending on strengh of the substrate, the 2D SAC models a variety of physical systems: polymer crystals with identical chains having light side groups, an array of inductively coupled long Josephson junctions, anisotropic crystals having light and heavy sublattices. Continuum limit of the FK model, the sine-Gordon ssGd equation, allows two types of soliton solutions: topological solitons and breathers. It is known that the quasi-one-dimensional topological solitons can propagate also in a chain of 2D system of coupled chains and even in a helix chain in a three-dimensional model of polymer crystal. In contrast to this, numerical simulation shows that the long-living breathers inherent to the FK model do not exist in the 2D SAC with weak background potential. The effect changes scenario of kink-antikink collision with small relative velocity: at weak background potential the collision always results only in intensive phonon radiation while kink-antikink recombination in the FK model results in long-living low-frequency sG breather creation. We found the survival condition for breathers in the 2D SAC on substrate depending on breather frequency and strength of the background potential. The survival condition bears no relation to resonances between breather frequency and frequencies of phonon band—contrary to the case of the FK model.
Physical Review B 71, 224303 (2005)