Scattering of regularized-long-wave solitary waves

The Lagrangian density for the regularized-long-wave equation (also known as the BBM equation) is presented. Using the trial function technique, ordinary differential equations that describe the time dependence of the position of the peaks, amplitudes, and widths for the collision of two solitary waves are obtained. These equations are analyzed in the Born and “equal-width” approximations and compared with numerical results obtained by direct integration utilizing the split-step fast Fourier-transform method. The computations show that collisions are inelastic and that production of solitary waves may occur.