On Stabilizing the Strongly Nonlinear Internal Wave Model

A strongly nonlinear asymptotic model describing the evolution of large amplitude internal waves in a two-layer system is studied numerically. While the steady model has been demonstrated to capture correctly the characteristics of large amplitude internal solitary waves, a local stability analysis shows that the time-dependent inviscid model suffers from the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability due to a tangential velocity discontinuity across the interface accompanied by the interfacial deformation. An attempt to represent the viscous effect that is missing in the model is made with eddy viscosity, but this simple ad hoc model is shown to fail to suppress unstable short waves. Alternatively, when a smooth low-pass Fourier filter is applied, it is found that a large amplitude internal solitary wave propagates stably without change of form, and mass and energy are conserved well. The head-on collision of two counter-propagating solitary waves is studied using the filtered strongly nonlinear model and its numerical solution is compared with the weakly nonlinear asymptotic solution.     

A Numerical Study of the Exact Evolution Equations for Surface Waves in Water of Finite Depth

We describe a pseudo-spectral numerical method to solve the systems of one-dimensional evolution equations for free surface waves in a homogeneous layer of an ideal fluid. We use the method to solve a system of one-dimensional integro-differential equations, first proposed by Ovsjannikov and later derived by Dyachenko, Zakharov, and Kuznetsov, to simulate the exact evolution of nonlinear free surface waves governed by the two-dimensional Euler equations. These equations are written in the transformed plane where the free surface is mapped onto a flat surface and do not require the common assumption that the waves have small amplitude used in deriving the weakly nonlinear Korteweg–de Vries and Boussinesq long-wave equations. We compare the solution of the exact reduced equations with these weakly nonlinear long-wave models and with the nonlinear long-wave equations of Su and Gardner that do not assume the waves have small amplitude. The Su and Gardner solutions are in remarkably close agreement with the exact Euler solutions for large amplitude solitary wave interactions while the interactions of low-amplitude solitary waves of all four models agree. The simulations demonstrate that our method is an efficient and accurate approach to integrate all of these equations and conserves the mass, momentum, and energy of the Euler equations over very long simulations.     

Linear stability of solitary waves of the Green‐Naghdi equations

We investigate the eigenvalue problem obtained from linearizing the Green‐Naghdi equations about solitary wave solutions. Unlike weakly nonlinear water wave models, the physical system considered here has nonlinearity in its highest derivative term. This results in more detailed asymptotic analysis of the eigenvalue problem in the presence of a large parameter. Combining the technique of singular perturbation with the Evans function, we show that for solitary waves of small amplitude, the problem has no eigenvalues of positive real part and the Evans function is nonvanishing everywhere except the origin. This fact then leads to the linear stability of these solitary waves. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Large Amplitude Internal Waves of Permanent Form

In this paper the weakly nonlinear theory of long internal gravity waves propagating in stratified media is extended to the fully nonlinear case by treating Long's nonlinear partial differential equation for steady inviscid flows without restriction to small amplitudes and long wavelengths. The existence of finite amplitude solutions of “permanent form” is established analytically for a large class of stratification profiles, and properties are calculated numerically for the case of a hyperbolic tangent density profile in a large range of fluid depths. The numerical results agree well with the experimental data of Davis and Acrivos over the full range of wave amplitudes measured; such agreement is not obtainable with existing weakly nonlinear theories.     

Solitary wave solutions to the Isobe-Kakinuma model for water waves

We consider the Isobe-Kakinuma model for two-dimensional water waves in the case of a flat bottom. The Isobe-Kakinuma model is a system of Euler-Lagrange equations for a Lagrangian approximating Luke's Lagrangian for water waves. We show theoretically the existence of a family of small amplitude solitary wave solutions to the Isobe-Kakinuma model in the long wave regime. Numerical analysis for large amplitude solitary wave solutions is also provided and suggests the existence of a solitary wave of extreme form with a sharp crest.     

Transient Nonlinear Disturbances and Shelves in a Stratified Fluid Layer

We revisit the classical problem of internal wave propagation in a stratified fluid layer bounded by rigid walls and point out a mechanism by which unsteady locally confined disturbances generate far-field shelves. Carrying the standard expansion procedure to fourth order in the wave amplitude reveals that weakly nonlinear long waves of a certain mode shed, in general, lower- and higher-mode shelves, which propagate upstream and downstream with the corresponding long-wave speeds. This phenomenon is brought about by the combined effect of nonlinear interactions and the presence of transience in the main disturbance. While the shelves accompanying small-amplitude waves are relatively weak, numerical solutions of the full Euler equations indicate that shelves induced by unsteady disturbances of finite amplitude close to breaking can be quite significant.     

Are Solitary Internal Waves Solitons?

Results of fully nonlinear numerical simulations of the interaction of two mode-1 solitary internal waves, both propagating in the same direction, are presented. After the interaction, two solitary internal waves emerge. The large wave is slightly larger than the initial large solitary wave, while the small one is slightly smaller than the initial small solitary wave. Some small-amplitude trailing mode-1 and mode-3 waves are generated by the interaction.     

Periodic Travelling Waves and Compactons in Granular Chains

We study the propagation of an unusual type of periodic travelling waves in chains of identical beads interacting via Hertz’s contact forces. Each bead periodically undergoes a compression phase followed by free flight, due to special properties of Hertzian interactions (fully nonlinear under compression and vanishing in the absence of contact). We prove the existence of such waves close to binary oscillations, and numerically continue these solutions when their wavelength is increased. In the long wave limit, we observe their convergence towards shock profiles consisting of small compression regions close to solitary waves, alternating with large domains of free flight where bead velocities are small. We give formal arguments to justify this asymptotic behavior, using a matching technique and previous results concerning solitary wave solutions. The numerical finding of such waves implies the existence of compactons, i.e. compactly supported compression waves propagating at a constant velocity, depending on the amplitude and width of the wave. The beads are stationary and separated by equal gaps outside the wave, and each bead reached by the wave is shifted by a finite distance during a finite time interval. Below a critical wave number, we observe fast instabilities of the periodic travelling waves, leading to a disordered regime.     

Remarks on a Strongly Nonlinear Model for Two‐Layer Flows with a Top Free Surface

We revisit in this paper the strongly nonlinear long wave model for large amplitude internal waves in two‐layer flows with a free surface proposed by Choi and Camassa [1] and Barros et al. [2]. Its solitary‐wave solutions were the object of the work by Barros and Gavrilyuk [3], who proved that such solutions are governed by a Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom. A detailed analysis of the critical points of the system is presented here, leading to some new results. It is shown that conjugate states for the long wave model are the same as those predicted by the fully nonlinear Euler equations. Some emphasis will be given to the baroclinic mode, where interfacial waves are known to change polarity according to different values of density and depth ratios. A critical depth ratio separates these two regimes and its analytical expression is derived directly from the model. In addition, we prove that such waves cannot exist throughout the whole range of speeds.     

Construction of traveling wave solutions of the (2 + 1)-dimensional modified KdV-KP equation

Traveling wave solutions have played a vital role in demonstrating the wave character of nonlinear problems emerging in the field of mathematical sciences and engineering. To depict the nature of propagation of the nonlinear waves in nature, a range of nonlinear evolution equations has been proposed and investigated in the existing literature. In this article, solitary and traveling periodic wave solutions for the (2 + 1)-dimensional modified KdV-KP equation are derived by employing an ansatz method, named the enhanced (G′/G)-expansion method. For this continued equation, abundant solitary wave solutions and nonlinear periodic wave solutions, along with some free parameters, are obtained. We have derived the exact expressions for the solitary waves that arise in the continuum-modified KdV-KP model. We study the significance of parameters numerically that arise in the obtained solutions. These parameters play an important role in the physical structure and propagation directions of the wave that characterizes the wave pattern. We discuss the relation between velocity and parameters and illustrate them graphically. Our numerical analysis suggests that the taller solitons are narrower than shorter waves and can travel faster. In addition, graphical representations of some obtained solutions along with their contour plot and wave train profiles are presented. The speed, as well as the profile of these solitary waves, is highly sensitive to the free parameters. Our results establish that the continuum-modified KdV-KP system supports solitary waves having different shapes and speeds for different values of the parameters.     

Numerical simulation for the solitary wave of Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation based on lattice Boltzmann method

The Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation is considered, which is an equation describing two dimensional weakly nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in plasma. We focus on using the lattice Boltzmann method to study the Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation. A lattice Boltzmann model is constructed. In numerical experiments, the propagation of the single solitary wave and the collision of double solitary waves are simulated. The results with different parameters are investigated and compared.     

Solitary Wave Transformation Due to a Change in Polarity

Solitary wave transformation in a zone with sign-variable coefficient for the quadratic nonlinear term is studied for the variable-coefficient Korteweg–de Vries equation. Such a change of sign implies a change in polarity for the solitary wave solutions of this equation. This situation can be realized for internal waves in a stratified ocean, when the pycnocline lies halfway between the seabed and the sea surface. The width of the transition zone of the variable nonlinear coefficient is allowed to vary over a wide range. In the case of a short transition zone it is shown using asymptotic theory that there is no solitary wave generation after passage through the turning point, where the coefficient of the quadratic nonlinear term goes to zero. In the case of a very wide transition zone it is shown that one or more solitary waves of the opposite polarity are generated after passage through the turning point. Here, asymptotic methods are effective only for the first (adiabatic) stage when the solitary wave is approaching the turning point. The results from the asymptotic theories are confirmed by direct numerical simulation. The hypothesis that the pedestal behind the solitary wave approaching the turning point has a significant role on the generation of the terminal solitary wave after the transition zone is examined. It is shown that the pedestal is not the sole contributor to the amplitude of the terminal solitary wave. A negative disturbance at the turning point due to the transformation in the zone of the variable nonlinear coefficient contributes as much to the process of the generation of the terminal solitary waves.     

Envelope Solitary Waves and Periodic Waves in the AB Equations

This article deals with the envelope solitary waves and periodic waves in the AB equations that serve as model equations describing marginally unstable baroclinic wave packets in geophysical fluids and also ultra‐short pulses in nonlinear optics. An envelope solitary wave has a width proportional to its velocity and inversely proportional to its amplitude. The velocity of the envelope solitary wave is partially dependent on its amplitude in the sense that the amplitude determines the upper or lower limit of the velocity. When two envelope solitary waves collide, they survive the collision and retain their identities except for a shift in the positions of both the envelopes and the carrier waves. The periodic wave solutions in sine wave form may be stable or unstable depending upon the wave parameters. When the sine wave is destabilized by small perturbations, its long‐time evolution shows a Fermi–Pasta–Ulam‐type oscillation.     

Quasiperiodic Solutions in Weakly Nonlinear Gas Dynamics. Part I. Numerical Results in the Inviscid Case

We exhibit and study a new class of solutions for the one-dimensional inviscid Euler equations of Gas Dynamics in a bounded domain with reflecting boundary conditions, in the weakly nonlinear regime. These solutions do not present the usual wave breaking leading to shock formation, even though they have nontrivial acoustic components and operate in the nonlinear regime. We also show that these 'Non Breaking for All Times' (NBAT) solutions are globally attracting for the long time evolution of the equations.
The Euler equations of Gas Dynamics (in the weakly nonlinear regime with reflecting boundary conditions) can be reduced to an inviscid Burgers-like equation for the acoustic component, with a linear integral self-coupling term and periodic boundary conditions. The integral term arises as a result of the nonlinear resonant interactions of the sound waves with the entropy variations in the flow. This integral term turns out to be weakly dispersive. The NBAT solutions arise as a result of the interplay of this dispersion with the 'standard' wave-breaking nonlinearity in the Burgers equation.
In addition to the previously known weakly nonlinear standing acoustic wave NBAT solutions, we found a family of new, never-breaking, attracting solutions by direct numerical simulation. These are quasiperiodic in time with two periods. In phase space these solutions lie on a surface 'centered' around the standing waves. Only two standing-wave solutions (the maximum amplitude and the trivial vanishing wave) are in the attracting set. All of the others are quasiperiodic in time with two periods.     

On the Computation of Nonlinear Planetary Waves

A numerical method is developed to solve a class of nonlinear, nonlocal eigenvalue problems defined in an infinite strip, and is applied to compute solitary planetary waves in a sheared zonal current on the beta-plane. This method, an iterative procedure derived from the natural variational structure of these problems, is implemented in the physical case when the ambient parallel flow has a linear or a quadratic velocity profile. The results of the numerical experiments establish rigorous limits on the range of validity of the formal asymptotic theory of weakly nonlinear long waves, and also reveal some new phenomena involving strongly nonlinear waves. The iterative procedure is analyzed in a general setting, and is shown to be globally convergent without restriction on the wave amplitude.     

The Evolution of Internal Undular Bores over a Slope in the Presence of Rotation

The large‐amplitude internal waves commonly observed in the coastal ocean often take the form of unsteady undular bores. Hence, here, we examine the long‐time combined effect of variable topography and background rotation on the propagation of internal undular bores, using the framework of a variable‐coefficient Ostrovsky equation. Because the leading waves in an internal undular bore are close to solitary waves, we first examine the evolution of a single solitary wave. Then, we consider an internal undular bore, for which two methods of generation are used. One method is the matured undular bore developed from an initial shock box in the Korteweg–de Vries equation, that is the Ostrovsky equation with the rotational term omitted, and the other method is a modulated cnoidal wave solution of the same Korteweg–de Vries equation. It transpires that in the long‐time model simulations, the rotational effect disintegrates the nonlinear waves into inertia‐gravity waves, and then there emerge complicated interactions between these inertia‐gravity waves and the modulated periodic waves of the undular bore, especially at the rear part of the undular bore. However, near the front of the undular bore, nonlinear effects further modulate these waves, with the eventual emergence of nonlinear envelope wave packets.     

Numerical solutions and stability analysis for solitary waves of complex modified Korteweg–de Vries equation using Chebyshev pseudospectral methods

In this research article, the authors investigate the interaction of solitary waves for complex modified Korteweg–de Vries (CMKdV) equations using Chebyshev pseudospectral methods. The proposed method is established in both time and space to approximate the solutions and to prove the stability analysis for the equations. The derivative matrices are defined at Chebyshev–Gauss–Lobbato points and the problem is reduced to a diagonally block system of coupled nonlinear equations. For numerical experiments, the method is tested on a number of different examples to study the behavior of interaction of two and more than two solitary waves, single solitary wave at different amplitude parameters and different polarization angles. Numerical results support the theoretical results. A comprehensive comparison of numerical results with the exact solutions and other numerical methods are presented. The rate of convergence of the proposed method is obtained up to seventh-order.     

Numerical Solution of Some Nonlocal, Nonlinear Dispersive Wave Equations

Summary. We use a spectral method to solve numerically two nonlocal, nonlinear, dispersive, integrable wave equations, the Benjamin-Ono and the Intermediate Long Wave equations. The proposed numerical method is able to capture well the dynamics of the solutions; we use it to investigate the behaviour of solitary wave solutions of the equations with special attention to those, among the properties usually connected with integrability, for which there is at present no analytic proof. Thus we study in particular the resolution property of arbitrary initial profiles into sequences of solitary waves for both equations and clean interaction of Benjamin-Ono solitary waves. We also verify numerically that the behaviour of the solution of the Intermediate Long Wave equation as the model parameter tends to the infinite depth limit is the one predicted by the theory. Received October 28, 1997; revised February 11, 1999; accepted April 7, 1999     

Conservation Laws,Hamiltonian Structure,Modulational Instability Properties and Solitary Wave Solutions for a Higher‐Order Model Describing Nonlinear Internal Waves

Recent theoretical advances in connecting the wave‐induced mean flow with the conserved pseudomomentum per unit mass has permitted the first rational derivation of a model that describes the weakly nonlinear propagation of internal gravity plane waves in a continuously stratified fluid. Depending on the particular parameter regime examined the new model corresponds to an extended bright or dark derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equation or an extended complex‐valued modified Korteweg‐de Vries or Sasa–Satsuma equation. Mass, momentum, and energy conservation laws are derived. A noncanonical infinite‐dimensional Hamiltonian formulation of the model is introduced. The modulational stability characteristics associated with the Stokes wave solution of the model are described. The bright and dark solitary wave solutions of the model are obtained.