Intermittent turbulence in a many-body system

A well-known example of intermittent dynamics is the generation of transient, turbulent ``puffs'' in fluid flow through a pipe with rough walls. Here we show how similar dynamics can emerge in a discrete, crystalline system of particles driven by noise. Polydispersity in particle masses leads to localized vibrational modes that effectuate a transition to a gaslike phase. A minimal model for the evolution of the system's mechanical energies exhibits quasicyclic oscillations, and a single, dimensionless number captures the essential features of the intermittent dynamics, analogous to the Reynolds number for pipe flow.