Do peaked solitary water waves indeed exist?

Many models of shallow water waves, such as the famous Camassa–Holm equation, admit peaked solitary waves. However, it is an open question whether or not the widely accepted peaked solitary waves can be derived from the fully nonlinear wave equations. In this paper, a unified wave model (UWM) based on the symmetry and the fully nonlinear wave equations is put forward for progressive waves with permanent form in finite water depth. Different from traditional wave models, the flows described by the UWM are not necessarily irrotational at crest, so that it is more general. The unified wave model admits not only the traditional progressive waves with smooth crest, but also a new kind of solitary waves with peaked crest that include the famous peaked solitary waves given by the Camassa–Holm equation. Besides, it is proved that Kelvin’s theorem still holds everywhere for the newly found peaked solitary waves. Thus, the UWM unifies, for the first time, both of the traditional smooth waves and the peaked solitary waves. In other words, the peaked solitary waves are consistent with the traditional smooth ones. So, in the frame of inviscid fluid, the peaked solitary waves are as acceptable and reasonable as the traditional smooth ones. It is found that the peaked solitary waves have some unusual and unique characteristics. First of all, they have a peaked crest with a discontinuous vertical velocity at crest. Especially, unlike the traditional smooth waves that are dispersive with wave height, the phase speed of the peaked solitary waves has nothing to do with wave height, but depends (for a fixed wave height) on its decay length, i.e., the actual wavelength: in fact, the peaked solitary waves are dispersive with the actual wavelength when wave height is fixed. In addition, unlike traditional smooth waves whose kinetic energy decays exponentially from free surface to bottom, the kinetic energy of the peaked solitary waves either increases or almost keeps the same. All of these unusual properties show the novelty of the peaked solitary waves, although it is still an open question whether or not they are reasonable in physics if the viscosity of fluid and surface tension are considered.     

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.     

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.     

Evolution of Higher-Order Gray Hirota Solitary Waves

The defocusing Hirota equation has dark and gray soliton solutions which are stable on a background of periodic waves of constant amplitude. In this paper, gray solitary wave evolution for a higher-order defocusing Hirota equation is examined. A direct analysis is used to identify families of higher-order gray Hirota solitary waves, which are embedded for certain parameter values. Soliton perturbation theory is used to determine the detailed behavior of an evolving higher-order gray Hirota solitary wave. An integral expression for the first-order correction to the wave is found and analytical expressions for the steady-state and transient components of the solitary wave tail are derived. A subtle and complex picture of the development of solitary wave tails emerges. It is found that solitary wave tails develop for two reasons, one is decay of the solitary wave caused by resonance, the second is corrections at first-order to the background wave. Strong agreement is found between the theoretical predictions of the perturbation theory and numerical solutions of the governing equations.     

Solitary Waves and Their Linear Stability in Nonlinear Lattices

Solitary waves in a general nonlinear lattice are discussed, employing as a model the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a spatially periodic nonlinear coefficient. An asymptotic theory is developed for long solitary waves, which span a large number of lattice periods. In this limit, the allowed positions of solitary waves relative to the lattice, as well as their linear stability properties, hinge upon a certain recurrence relation which contains information beyond all orders of the usual two‐scale perturbation expansion. It follows that only two such positions are permissible, and of those two solitary waves, one is linearly stable and the other unstable. For a cosine lattice, in particular, the two possible solitary waves are centered at a maximum or minimum of the lattice, with the former being stable, and the analytical predictions for the associated linear stability eigenvalues are in excellent agreement with numerical results. Furthermore, a countable set of multi‐solitary‐wave bound states are constructed analytically. In spite of rather different physical settings, the exponential asymptotics approach followed here is strikingly similar to that taken in earlier studies of solitary wavepackets involving a periodic carrier and a slowly varying envelope, which underscores the general value of this procedure for treating multiscale solitary‐wave problems.     

关于《保辛水波动力学》的一个注记

研究完全非线性水波的数值模拟方法，将《保辛水波动力学》中提出的保辛摄动方法，扩展到非线性水波压强的分析.数值算例表明，该文方法可用于水波的非线性演化分析，也可用于模拟孤立波、尖锐波峰的涌波等非线性水波，并给出水波的压强分布.     

Dynamics of Strongly Nonlinear Internal Solitary Waves in Shallow Water

We study the dynamics of large amplitude internal solitary waves in shallow water by using a strongly nonlinear long-wave model. We investigate higher order nonlinear effects on the evolution of solitary waves by comparing our numerical solutions of the model with weakly nonlinear solutions. We carry out the local stability analysis of solitary wave solution of the model and identify an instability mechanism of the Kelvin–Helmholtz type. With parameters in the stable range, we simulate the interaction of two solitary waves: both head-on and overtaking collisions. We also study the deformation of a solitary wave propagating over non-uniform topography and describe the process of disintegration in detail. Our numerical solutions unveil new dynamical behaviors of large amplitude internal solitary waves, to which any weakly nonlinear model is inapplicable.     

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.     

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.     

Solving the one-loop soliton solution of the Vakhnenko equation by means of the Homotopy analysis method

A powerful, easy-to-use analytic technique for nonlinear problems, namely the Homotopy analysis method, is applied to solve the Vakhnenko equation, a nonlinear equation with loop soliton solutions governing the propagation of high-frequency waves in a relaxing medium. By means of the transformation of independent variables, an analysis one-loop soliton solution expressed by a series of exponential functions is obtained, which agrees well with the exact solution. This indicates the validity and great potential of the Homotopy analysis method in solving complicated solitary wave problems.     

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.     

Transverse nonlinear instability for two-dimensional dispersive models

We present a method to prove nonlinear instability of solitary waves in dispersive models. Two examples are analyzed: we prove the nonlinear long time instability of the KdV solitary wave (with respect to periodic transverse perturbations) under a KP-I flow and the transverse nonlinear instability of solitary waves for the cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation.     

Solitary and Periodic Solutions of Nonlinear Nonintegrable Equations

The singular manifold method and partial fraction decomposition allow one to find some special solutions of nonintegrable partial differential equations (PDE) in the form of solitary waves, traveling wave fronts, and periodic pulse trains. The truncated Painlevé expansion is used to reduce a nonlinear PDE to a multilinear form. Some special solutions of the latter equation represent solitary waves and traveling wave fronts of the original PDE. The partial fraction decomposition is used to obtain a periodic wave train solution as an infinite superposition of the "corrected" solitary waves.     

Three Dimensional Flexural–Gravity Waves

Waves propagating on the surface of a three–dimensional ideal fluid of arbitrary depth bounded above by an elastic sheet that resists flexing are considered in the small amplitude modulational asymptotic limit. A Benney–Roskes–Davey–Stewartson model is derived, and we find that fully localized wavepacket solitary waves (or lumps) may bifurcate from the trivial state at the minimum of the phase speed of the problem for a range of depths. Results using a linear and two nonlinear elastic models are compared. The stability of these solitary wave solutions and the application of the BRDS equation to unsteady wave packets is also considered. The results presented may have applications to the dynamics of continuous ice sheets and their breakup.     

On linear and nonlinear Rossby waves in an ocean

This paper deals with recent developments of linear and nonlinear Rossby waves in an ocean. Included are also linear Poincaré, Rossby, and Kelvin waves in an ocean. The dispersion diagrams for Poincaré, Kelvin and Rossby waves are presented. Special attention is given to the nonlinear Rossby waves on a β-plane ocean. Based on the perturbation analysis, it is shown that the nonlinear evolution equation for the wave amplitude satisfies a modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The solution of this equation represents solitary waves in a dispersive medium. In other words, the envelope of the amplitude of the waves has a soliton structure and these envelope solitons propagate with the group velocity of the Rossby waves. Finally, a nonlinear analytical model is presented for long Rossby waves in a meridional channel with weak shear. A new nonlinear wave equation for the amplitude of large Rossby waves is derived in a region where fluid flows over the recirculation core. It is shown that the governing amplitude equations for the inner and outer zones are both KdV type, where weak nonlinearity is balanced by weak dispersion. In the inner zone, the nonlinear amplitude equation has a new term proportional to the 3/2 power of the difference between the wave amplitude and the critical amplitude, and this term occurs to account for a nonlinearity due to the flow over the vortex core. The solution of the amplitude equations with the linear shear flow represents the solitary waves. The present study deals with the lowest mode (n=1) analysis. An extension of the higher modes (n?2) of this work will be made in a subsequent paper.     

Nonlinear Wave–Current Interactions in Shallow Water

We study here the propagation of long waves in the presence of vorticity. In the irrotational framework, the Green–Naghdi equations (also called Serre or fully nonlinear Boussinesq equations) are the standard model for the propagation of such waves. These equations couple the surface elevation to the vertically averaged horizontal velocity and are therefore independent of the vertical variable. In the presence of vorticity, the dependence on the vertical variable cannot be removed from the vorticity equation but it was however shown in 1 that the motion of the waves could be described using an extended Green–Naghdi system. In this paper, we propose an analysis of these equations, and show that they can be used to get some new insight into wave–current interactions. We show in particular that solitary waves may have a drastically different behavior in the presence of vorticity and show the existence of solitary waves of maximal amplitude with a peak at their crest, whose angle depends on the vorticity. We also show some simple numerical validations. Finally, we give some examples of wave–current interactions with a nontrivial vorticity field and topography effects.     

Regular and embedded solitons in a generalized Pochammer PDE

Variational methods are employed to generate families of both regular and embedded solitary wave solutions for a generalized Pochammer PDE that is currently of great interest. The technique for obtaining the embedded solitons incorporates several recent generalizations of the usual variational technique and is thus topical in itself. One unusual feature of the solitary waves derived here is that we are able to obtain them in analytical form (within the family of the trial functions). Thus, a direct error analysis is performed, showing the accuracy of the resulting solitary waves. Given the importance of solitary wave solutions in wave dynamics and information propagation in nonlinear PDEs, as well as the fact that only the parameter regimes for the existence of solitary waves had previously been analyzed for the microstructure PDE considered here, the results obtained here are both new and timely.     

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.     

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.     

Exact solutions of nonlinear generalizations of the wave equation

Exact solutions of nonlinear generalizations of the wave equation are constructed. In some cases these solutions are solitary waves or solitions. Thus, by explicit construction solitons or solitary waves are shown to exist in dispersionless systems. In contrast to previous solitary wave solutions, these solutions are limiting cases of solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations with dispersion.