Branch cuts of Stokes wave on deep water. Part I: Numerical solution and Pad\'e approximation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the complex singularities of Stokes waves on deep water using high-precision numerical simulations and Padé approximation, revealing branch points and cuts that characterize the wave's limiting form.

Contribution

It introduces a high-accuracy numerical method combined with Padé approximation to analyze the singularity structure of Stokes waves, providing detailed tables for various wave heights.

Findings

Singularities are branch points connected by branch cuts in the complex plane.

Each branch cut extends vertically from the crest to infinity.

The limiting wave occurs when the singularity reaches the fluid surface.

Abstract

Complex analytical structure of Stokes wave for two-dimensional potential flow of the ideal incompressible fluid with free surface and infinite depth is analyzed. Stokes wave is the fully nonlinear periodic gravity wave propagating with the constant velocity. Simulations with the quadruple and variable precisions are performed to find Stokes wave with high accuracy and study the Stokes wave approaching its limiting form with $2\pi/3$ radians angle on the crest. A conformal map is used which maps a free fluid surface of Stokes wave into the real line with fluid domain mapped into the lower complex half-plane. The Stokes wave is fully characterized by the complex singularities in the upper complex half-plane. These singularities are addressed by rational (Pad\'e) interpolation of Stokes wave in the complex plane. Convergence of Pad\'e approximation to the density of complex poles with the increase of the numerical precision and subsequent increase of the number of approximating poles reveals that the only singularities of Stokes wave are branch points connected by branch cuts. The converging densities are the jumps across the branch cuts. There is one branch cut per horizontal spatial period $\lambda$ of Stokes wave. Each branch cut extends strictly vertically above the corresponding crest of Stokes wave up to complex infinity. The lower end of branch cut is the square-root branch point located at the distance $v_c$ from the real line corresponding to the fluid surface in conformal variables. The limiting Stokes wave emerges as the singularity reaches the fluid surface. Tables of Pad\'e approximation for Stokes waves of different heights are provided. These tables allow to recover the Stokes wave with the relative accuracy of at least $10^{-26}$. The tables use from several poles to about hundred poles for highly nonlinear Stokes wave with $v_c/\lambda\sim 10^{-6}.$