| Abstract: | In this paper, we find suitable initial conditions for the cylindrical Korteweg‐de Vries equation by first solving exactly the initial‐value problem for localized solutions of the underlying axisymmetric linear long‐wave equation. The far‐field limit of the solution of this linear problem then provides, through matching, an initial condition for the cylindrical Korteweg‐de Vries equation. This initial condition is associated only with the leading wave front of the far‐field limit of the linear solution. The main motivation is to resolve the discrepancy between the exact mass conservation law, and the “mass” conservation law for the cylindrical Korteweg‐de Vries equation. The outcome is that in the linear initial‐value problem all the mass is carried behind the wave front, and then the “mass” in the initial condition for the cylindrical Korteweg‐de Vries equation is zero. Hence, the evolving solution in the cylindrical Korteweg‐de Vries equation has zero “mass.” This situation arises because, unlike the well‐known unidirectional Korteweg‐de Vries equation, the solution of the initial‐value problem for the axisymmetric linear long‐wave problem contains both outgoing and ingoing waves, but in the cylindrical geometry, the latter are reflected at the origin into outgoing waves, and eventually the total outgoing solution is a combination of these and those initially generated. |
