High-order nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation for the envelope of slowly modulated gravity waves on the surface of finite-depth fluid and its quasi-soliton solutions

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a high-order nonlinear Schr"odinger equation for gravity wave envelopes on finite-depth fluid surfaces, revealing that classical solitons become quasi-solitons with slowly varying amplitudes due to high-order effects.

Contribution

It reformulates the high-order NLS equation in a dimensionless form and demonstrates how classical solitons evolve into quasi-solitons with modulated amplitudes.

Findings

Classical NLS solitons transform into quasi-solitons with slow amplitude variations.

The equation is expressed with a single dimensionless parameter $kh$.

High-order terms account for secondary modulations of gravity waves.

Abstract

We consider the high-order nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation derived earlier by Sedletsky [Ukr. J. Phys. 48(1), 82 (2003)] for the first-harmonic envelope of slowly modulated gravity waves on the surface of finite-depth irrotational, inviscid, and incompressible fluid with flat bottom. This equation takes into account the third-order dispersion and cubic nonlinear dispersive terms. We rewrite this equation in dimensionless form featuring only one dimensionless parameter $kh$, where $k$ is the carrier wavenumber and $h$ is the undisturbed fluid depth. We show that one-soliton solutions of the classical nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation are transformed into quasi-soliton solutions with slowly varying amplitude when the high-order terms are taken into consideration. These quasi-soliton solutions represent the secondary modulations of gravity waves.