  A collective coordinate theory is develop for soliton ratchets in the damped
discrete sine-Gordon model driven by a biharmonic force. An ansatz with two
collective coordinates, namely the center and the width of the soliton, is
assumed as an approximated solution of the discrete non-linear equation. The
evolution of these two collective coordinates, obtained by means of the
Generalized Travelling Wave Method, explains the mechanism underlying the
soliton ratchet and captures qualitatively all the main features of this
phenomenon. The theory accounts for the existence of a non-zero depinning
threshold, the non-sinusoidal behaviour of the average velocity as a function
of the difference phase between the harmonics of the driver, the non-monotonic
dependence of the average velocity on the damping and the existence of
non-transporting regimes beyond the depinning threshold. In particular it
provides a good description of the intriguing and complex pattern of subspaces
corresponding to different dynamical regimes in parameter space.
