Abstract: | The interaction of finite-amplitude long gravity waves with a small-amplitude packet of short capillary waves is studied by a multiple-scale method based on the invariance of the perturbation expansion under certain translations. The result of the analysis is a set of equations coupling the complex amplitude of the packet of short waves with the long-wave velocity potential and surface elevation. The short wave is described by a Ginzburg-Landau equation with coefficients that depend on properties of the long wave. The long-wave potential and surface elevation satisfy the usual free-surface conditions augmented by forcing terms representing effects of the short waves. The derivation removes some of the restrictions imposed in earlier studies. |