Breakdown of the Whitham Modulation Theory and the Emergence of Dispersion

The Whitham modulation theory for periodic traveling waves of PDEs generated by a Lagrangian produces first‐order dispersionless PDEs that are, generically, either hyperbolic or elliptic. In this paper, degeneracy of the Whitham equations is considered where one of the characteristic speeds is zero. In this case, the Whitham equations are no longer valid. Reformulation and rescaling show that conservation of wave action morphs into the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation on a longer time scale thereby generating dispersion in the Whitham modulation equations even for finite amplitude waves.     

The generation,propagation, and extinction of multiphases in the KdV zero‐dispersion limit

We study the multiphases in the KdV zero‐dispersion limit. These phases are governed by the Whitham equations, which are 2g + 1 quasi‐linear hyperbolic equations where g is the number of phases. We are interested in both the interaction of two single phases and the breaking of a single phase for general initial data. We analyze in detail how a double phase is generated from the interaction or breaking, how it propagates in space‐time, and how it collapses to a single phase in a finite time. The Whitham equations are known to be integrable via a hodograph transform. The crucial step in our approach is to formulate the hodograph transform in terms of the Euler‐Poisson‐Darboux solutions. Under our scheme, the zeros of the Jacobian of the transform are given by the zeros of the Euler‐Poisson‐Darboux solution. Hence, the problem of inverting the hodograph transform to give the Whitham solution reduces to that of counting the zeros of the Euler‐Poisson‐Darboux solution. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Korteweg–de vries zero dispersion limit: Through first breaking for cubic-like analytic initial data

The characteristic solution of the initial value problem for the Riemann invariant form of the Korteweg-de Vries modulation equations is obtained locally through first breaking in the case of initial data which is analytic near a cubic inflection point. Tsarev's (see [11]) system is used to define the solution implicitly in terms of the speeds of the generalized KdV modulation equations. These “higher flow” speeds satisfy the same derivative identities obtained by Levermore for the KdV flow (see [6]). Moreover, by explicitly constructing the Lax-Levermore (see [5]) minimizer the Tsarev solution is shown to be the unique solution of Whitham's equations corresponding to the KdV zero dispersion limit. Also the Tsarev system possesses at most one three-sheeted solution in a uniform neighborhood of the inflection point. Finally the explicit minimizer provides phase information for the Venakides' small dispersion KdV waveform through first breaking; see [12]. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Whitham Equations, Bergman Kernel and Lax—Levermore Minimizer

We study multiphase solutions of the Whitham equations. The Whitham equations describe the zero dispersion limit of the Cauchy problem for the Korteweg—de Vries (KdV) equation. The zero dispersion solution of the KdV equation is determined by the Lax—Levermore minimization problem. The minimizer is a measurable function on the real line. When the support of the minimizer consists of a finite number of disjoint intervals to be determined, the minimization problem can be reduced to a scalar Riemann Hilbert (RH) problem. For each fixed x and t 0, the end-points of the contour are determined by the solution of the Whitham equations. The Lax—Levermore minimizer and the solution of the Whitham equations are described in terms of a kernel related to the Bergman kernel. At t = 0 the support of the minimizer consists of one interval for any value of x, while for t > 0, the number of intervals is larger than one in some regions of the (x,t) plane where the multiphase solutions of the Whitham equations develop. The increase of the number of intervals happens whenever the solution of the Whitham equations has a point of gradient catastrophe. For a class of smooth monotonically increasing initial data, we show that the support of the Lax—Levermore minimizer increases or decreases the number of its intervals by one near each point of gradient catastrophe. This result justifies the formation and extinction of the multiphase solutions of the Whitham equations. Furthermore we characterize a class of initial data for which all the points of gradient catastrophe occur only a finite number of times and therefore the support of the Lax—Levermore minimizer consists of a finite number of disjoint intervals for any x and t 0. This corresponds to give an upper bound to the genus of the solution of the Whitham equations. Similar results are obtained for the semi-classical limit of the defocusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation.     

Rigorous Justification of the Whitham Modulation Equations for the Generalized Korteweg–de Vries Equation

In this paper, we consider the spectral stability of spatially periodic traveling wave solutions of the generalized Korteweg–de Vries equation to long‐wavelength perturbations. Specifically, we extend the work of Bronski and Johnson by demonstrating that the homogenized system describing the mean behavior of a slow modulation (WKB) approximation of the solution correctly describes the linearized dispersion relation near zero frequency of the linearized equations about the background periodic wave. The latter has been shown by rigorous Evans function techniques to control the spectral stability near the origin, that is, stability to slow modulations of the underlying solution. In particular, through our derivation of the WKB approximation we generalize the modulation expansion of Whitham for the KdV to a more general class of equations which admit periodic waves with nonzero mean. As a consequence, we will show that, assuming a particular nondegeneracy condition, spectral stability near the origin is equivalent with the local well‐posedness of the Whitham system.     

Modulation theory solution for nonlinearly resonant,fifth‐order Korteweg–de Vries,nonclassical, traveling dispersive shock waves

A new class of resonant dispersive shock waves was recently identified as solutions of the Kawahara equation— a Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) type nonlinear wave equation with third‐ and fifth‐order spatial derivatives— in the regime of nonconvex, linear dispersion. Linear resonance resulting from the third‐ and fifth‐order terms in the Kawahara equation was identified as the key ingredient for nonclassical dispersive shock wave solutions. Here, nonlinear wave (Whitham) modulation theory is used to construct approximate nonclassical traveling dispersive shock wave (TDSW) solutions of the fifth‐ order KdV equation without the third derivative term, hence without any linear resonance. A self‐similar, simple wave modulation solution of the fifth order, weakly nonlinear KdV–Whitham equations is obtained that matches a constant to a heteroclinic traveling wave via a partial dispersive shock wave so that the TDSW is interpreted as a nonlinear resonance. The modulation solution is compared with full numerical solutions, exhibiting excellent agreement. The TDSW is shown to be modulationally stable in the presence of sufficiently small third‐order dispersion. The Kawahara–Whitham modulation equations transition from hyperbolic to elliptic type for sufficiently large third‐order dispersion, which provides a possible route for the TDSW to exhibit modulational instability.     

Quasi-classical approach to the inverse scattering problem for the KdV equation,and solution of the Whitham modulation equations

We consider an initial value problem for the KdV equation in the limit of weak dispersion. This model describes the formation and evolution in time of a nondissipative shock wave in plasma. Using the perturbation theory in power series of a small dispersion parameter, we arrive at the Riemann simple wave equation. Once the simple wave is overturned, we arrive at the system of Whitham modulation equations that describes the evolution of the resulting nondissipative shock wave. The idea of the approach developed in this paper is to study the asymptotic behavior of the exact solution in the limit of weak dispersion, using the solution given by the inverse scattering problem technique. In the study of the problem, we use the WKB approach to the direct scattering problem and use the formulas for the exact multisoliton solution of the inverse scattering problem. By passing to the limit, we obtain a finite set of relations that connects the space-time parameters x, t and the modulation parameters of the nondissipative shock wave.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 106, No. 1, pp. 44–61, January, 1996.     

Zero-dispersion limit to the Korteweg-de Vries equation: a dressing chain approach

An asymptotic solution of the KdV equation with small dispersion is studied for the case of smooth hump-like initial condition with monotonically decreasing slopes. Despite the well-known approaches by Lax-Levermore and Gurevich-Pitaevskii, a new way of constructing the asymptotics is proposed using the inverse scattering transform together with the dressing chain technique developed by A. Shabat [1]. It provides the Whitham-type approximaton of the leading term by solving the dressing chain through a finite-gap asymptotic ansatz. This yields the Whitham equations on the Riemann invariants together with hodograph transform which solves these equations explicitly. Thus we reproduce an uniform in x asymptotics consisting of smooth solution of the Hopf equation outside the oscillating domain and a slowly modulated cnoidal wave within the domain. Finally, the dressing chain technique provides the proof of an asymptotic estimate for the leading term.      

Semiclassical Limit of Focusing NLS for a Family of Square Barrier Initial Data

The small dispersion limit of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) exhibits a rich structure of sharply separated regions exhibiting disparate rapid oscillations at microscopic scales. The non‐self‐adjoint scattering problem and ill‐posed limiting Whitham equations associated to focusing NLS make rigorous asymptotic results difficult. Previous studies have focused on special classes of analytic initial data for which the limiting elliptic Whitham equations are wellposed. In this paper we consider another exactly solvable family of initial data,the family of square barriers,ψ 0(x) = qχ[?L,L] for real amplitudes q. Using Riemann‐Hilbert techniques, we obtain rigorous pointwise asymptotics for the semiclassical limit of focusing NLS globally in space and up to an O(1) maximal time. In particular, we show that the discontinuities in our initial data regularize by the immediate generation of genus‐one oscillations emitted into the support of the initial data. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in which the genus structure of the semiclassical asymptotics for focusing NLS have been calculated for nonanalytic initial data. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Oscillations of the zero dispersion limit of the korteweg-de vries equation

We attack the multiphase averaged systems for the zero dispersion limit of the KdV equation. Attention is paid to the most important case—the single phase oscillations. A scheme is developed to solve the Whitham averaged system (single phase averaged system). This system, under our scheme, is transformed to a linear over-determined system of Euler-Poisson-Darboux type whose solution can be written down explicitly. We show that, for any smooth initial data which has only one hump or is a nontrivial monotone function, the weak limit has single-phase oscillations within a cusp in the x-t plane for a short time after the breaking time for the corresponding Burgers equation. Outside the cusp, the limit satisfies the Burgers equation. More surprisingly, we also show that the weak limit has global single-phase oscillations within a cusp for any smooth nontrivial monotone initial data with only one inflection point. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Temporal asymptotics for soliton equations in problems with step initial conditions

In this survey, we present modern approaches to the construction and justification of large time asymptotics for solutions of main soliton equations with step-like initial condition whose boundary conditions as x ± are finite-gap, quasi-periodic solutions. The principal term of the asymptotic is also a finite-gap, quasi-periodic solution whose phase vectors are modulated with respect to the slow space-like variable. The Whitham equations describing this modulation are studied in detail. For the KdV equations, we construct and justify the principal term of the asymptotic for arbitrary finite-gap boundary conditions. By examining the sine-Gordon equation, we study the case of boundary conditions with complex-valued, self-conjugated quasi-periods. We prove the existence and uniqueness theorems in the case of the complex-valued group velocities that appear in the Whitham equations in the case considered. We present a complete picture (uniform in x) of the Whitham deformation for the case of 1-gap boundary conditions in the sine-Gordon equation.Translated from Sovremennaya Matematika i Ee Prilozheniya (Contemporary Mathematics and Its Applications), Vol. 5, Asymptotic Methods, 2003.     

Double Degeneracy in Multiphase Modulation and the Emergence of the Boussinesq Equation

In recent years, a connection between conservation law singularity, or more generally zero characteristics arising within the linear Whitham equations, and the emergence of reduced nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) from systems generated by a Lagrangian density has been made in conservative systems. Remarkably, the conservation laws form part of the reduced nonlinear system. Within this paper, the case of double degeneracy is investigated in multiphase wavetrains, characterized by a double zero characteristic of the linearized Whitham system, with the resulting modulation of relative equilibrium (which are a generalization of the modulation of wavetrains) leading to a vector two‐way Boussinesq equation. The derived PDE adheres to the previous results (such as [1]) in the sense that all but one of its coefficients is related to the conservation laws along the relative equilibrium solution, which are then projected to form a corresponding scalar system. The theory is applied to two examples to highlight how both the criticality can be assessed and the two‐way Boussinesq equation's coefficients are obtained. The first is the coupled Nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) system and is the first time the two‐way Boussinesq equation has been shown to arise in such a context, and the second is a stratified shallow water model which validates the theory against existing results.     

Computability of Solutions of the Korteweg‐de Vries Equation

In this paper we study computability of the solutions of the Korteweg‐de Vries (KdV) equation u_t + uu_x + u_xxx = 0. This is one of the open problems posted by Pour‐El and Richards [25]. Based on Bourgain's new approach to the initial value problem for the KdV equation in the periodic case, we show that the periodic solution u (x, t) of the KdV equation is computable if the initial data is computable.     

Shock Waves in Dispersive Eulerian Fluids

The long-time behavior of an initial step resulting in a dispersive shock wave (DSW) for the one-dimensional isentropic Euler equations regularized by generic, third-order dispersion is considered by use of Whitham averaging. Under modest assumptions, the jump conditions (DSW locus and speeds) for admissible, weak DSWs are characterized and found to depend only upon the sign of dispersion (convexity or concavity) and a general pressure law. Two mechanisms leading to the breakdown of this simple wave DSW theory for sufficiently large jumps are identified: a change in the sign of dispersion, leading to gradient catastrophe in the modulation equations, and the loss of genuine nonlinearity in the modulation equations. Large amplitude DSWs are constructed for several particular dispersive fluids with differing pressure laws modeled by the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation. These include superfluids (Bose–Einstein condensates and ultracold fermions) and “optical fluids.” Estimates of breaking times for smooth initial data and the long-time behavior of the shock tube problem are presented. Detailed numerical simulations compare favorably with the asymptotic results in the weak to moderate amplitude regimes. Deviations in the large amplitude regime are identified with breakdown of the simple wave DSW theory.     

On the background of limit pass for Korteweg-de Vries equation as the dispersion vanishes

We present the new approach to the background of approximate methods of convergence based on the theory of functional solutions and solutions in the mean one for conservation laws. The applications to the Cauchy problem to KdV equation, when dispersion tends to zero are considered. Also the Galerkin method for a periodic problem for the KdV equation is considered.     

Flux singularities in multiphase wavetrains and the Kadomtsev‐Petviashvili equation with applications to stratified hydrodynamics

This paper illustrates how the singularity of the wave action flux causes the Kadomtsev‐Petviashvili (KP) equation to arise naturally from the modulation of a two‐phased wavetrain, causing the dispersion to emerge from the classical Whitham modulation theory. Interestingly, the coefficients of the resulting KP are shown to be related to the associated conservation of wave action for the original wavetrain, and therefore may be obtained prior to the modulation. This provides a universal form for the KP as a dispersive reduction from any Lagrangian with the appropriate wave action flux singularity. The theory is applied to the full water wave problem with two layers of stratification, illustrating how the KP equation arises from the modulation of a uniform flow state and how its coefficients may be extracted from the system.     

The Korteweg-de Vries equation and beyond

We review a new method for linearizing the initial-boundary value problem of the KdV on the semi-infinite line for decaying initial and boundary data. We also present a novel class of physically important integrable equations. These equations, which include generalizations of the KdV, of the modified KdV, of the nonlinear Schrödinger and of theN-wave interactions, are as generic as their celebrated counterparts and, furthermore it appears that they describe certain physical situations more accurately.     

On the Whitham system for the (2+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Whitham modulation equations are derived for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation in the plane ((2+1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger [2d NLS]) with small dispersion. The modulation equations are obtained in terms of both physical and Riemann-type variables; the latter yields equations of hydrodynamic type. The complete 2d NLS Whitham system consists of six dynamical equations in evolutionary form and two constraints. As an application, we determine the linear stability of one-dimensional traveling waves. In both the elliptic and hyperbolic cases, the traveling waves are found to be unstable. This result is consistent with previous investigations of stability by other methods and is supported by direct numerical calculations.