Weakly nonlocal envelope solitary waves: numerical calculations for the Klein-Gordon (φ) equation

“Weakly nonlocal” solitary waves differ from ordinary solitary waves by possessing small amplitude, oscillatory “wings” that extend indefinitely from the large amplitude “core”. Such generalized solitary waves have been discovered in capillarygravity water waves, particle physics models, and geophysical Rossby waves. In this work, we present explicit calculations of weakly nonlocal envelope solitary waves. Each is a sine wave modulated by a slowly-varying “envelope” that itself propagates at the group velocity. Our example is the cubically nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation, which is a model in particle physics (φ⁴ theory) and in electrical engineering (with a different sign). Both cases have weakly nonlocal“breather” solitons. Via the Lorentz invariance, each breather generates a one-parameter family of nonlocal envelope solitary waves. The φ⁴ breather was described and calculated in earlier work. This generates envelope solitons which have “wings” that are (mostly) proportional to the second harmonic of the sinusoidal factor. In this article, we calculate breathers and envelope solitary waves for the second, electrical engineering case. Since these, unlike the φ⁴ waves, contain only odd harmonics, the envelope solitary waves are nonlocal only via the third harmonic.