On the variational structure of breather solutions

In this paper we give a systematic and simple account that put in evidence that many breather solutions of integrable equations satisfy suitable variational elliptic equations, which also implies that the stability problem reduces in some sense to $(i)$ the study of the spectrum of explicit linear systems (\emph{spectral stability}), and $(ii)$ the understanding of how bad directions (if any) can be controlled using low regularity conservation laws. We exemplify this idea in the case of the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV), Gardner, and sine-Gordon (SG) equations. Then we perform numerical simulations that confirm, at the level of the spectral problem, our previous rigorous results, where we showed that mKdV breathers are $H^2$ and $H^1$ stable, respectively. In a second step, we also discuss the Gardner and the Sine-Gordon cases, where the spectral study of a fourth-order linear matrix system is the key element to show stability. Using numerical methods, we confirm that all spectral assumptions leading to the $H^2\times H^1$ stability of SG breathers are numerically satisfied, even in the ultra-relativistic, singular regime. In a second part, we study the periodic mKdV case, where a periodic breather is known from the work of Kevrekidis et al. We rigorously show that these breathers satisfy a suitable elliptic equation, and we also show numerical spectral stability. However, we also identify the source of nonlinear instability in the case described in Kevrekidis et al. Finally, we present a new class of breather solution for mKdV, believed to exist from geometric considerations, and which is periodic in time and space, but has nonzero mean, unlike standard breathers.Comment: 55 pages; This paper is an improved version of our previous paper 1309.0625 and hence we replace i

The well-posedness and solutions of Boussinesq-type equations

We develop well-posedness theory and analytical and numerical solution techniques for Boussinesq-type equations. Firstly, we consider the Cauchy problem for a generalized Boussinesq equation. We show that under suitable conditions, a global solution for this problem exists. In addition, we derive sufficient conditions for solution blow-up in finite time.Secondly, a generalized Jacobi/exponential expansion method for finding exact solutions of non-linear partial differential equations is discussed. We use the proposed expansion method to construct many new, previously undiscovered exact solutions for the Boussinesq and modified Korteweg-de Vries equations. We also apply it to the shallow water long wave approximate equations. New solutions are deduced for this system of partial differential equations.Finally, we develop and validate a numerical procedure for solving a class of initial boundary value problems for the improved Boussinesq equation. The finite element method with linear B-spline basis functions is used to discretize the equation in space and derive a second order system involving only ordinary derivatives. It is shown that the coefficient matrix for the second order term in this system is invertible. Consequently, for the first time, the initial boundary value problem can be reduced to an explicit initial value problem, which can be solved using many accurate numerical methods. Various examples are presented to validate this technique and demonstrate its capacity to simulate wave splitting, wave interaction and blow-up behavior

Exact solutions for the generalized Klein–Gordon equation via a transformation and Exp-function method and comparison with Adomian’s method

AbstractIn this paper, a suitable transformation and a so-called Exp-function method are used to obtain different types of exact solutions for the generalized Klein–Gordon equation. These exact solutions are in full agreement with the previous results obtained in Refs. [Sirendaoreji, Auxiliary equation method and new solutions of Klein–Gordon equations, Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 31 (4) (2007) 943–950; Huiqun Zhang, Extended Jacobi elliptic function expansion method and its applications, Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 12 (5) (2007) 627–635]. One of these exact solutions is compared with the approximate solutions obtained by the modified decomposition method. Accurate numerical results for a wider range of time are obtained after using different types of ADM-Padè approximation. Our results show that the Exp-function method is very effective in finding exact solutions for the problem considered while the modified decomposition method is very powerful in finding numerical solutions with good accuracy for nonlinear PDE without any need for a transformation or perturbation

Variational Iteration Method for Solving the Generalized Degasperis-Procesi Equation

We introduce the variational iteration method for solving the generalized Degasperis-Procesi equation. Firstly, according to the variational iteration, the Lagrange multiplier is found after making the correction functional. Furthermore, several approximations of un+1(x,t) which is converged to u(x,t) are obtained, and the exact solutions of Degasperis-Procesi equation will be obtained by using the traditional variational iteration method with a suitable initial approximation u0(x,t). Finally, after giving the perturbation item, the approximate solution for original equation will be expressed specifically

Generalized solitary and periodic wave solutions to a (2 + 1)-dimensional Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation

In this paper, the Exp-function method is employed to the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation as a (2 + 1)-dimensional model for nonlinear Rossby waves. The observation of solitary wave solutions and periodic wave solutions constructed from the exponential function solutions reveal that our approach is very effective and convenient. The obtained results may be useful for better understanding the properties of two-dimensional coherent structures such as atmospheric blocking events. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Solution strategies for nonlinear conservation laws

Nonlinear conservation laws form the basis for models for a wide range of physical phenomena. Finding an optimal strategy for solving these problems can be challenging, and a good strategy for one problem may fail spectacularly for others. As different problems have different challenging features, exploiting knowledge about the problem structure is a key factor in achieving an efficient solution strategy. Most strategies found in literature for solving nonlinear problems involve a linearization step, usually using Newton's method, which replaces the original nonlinear problem by an iteration process consisting of a series of linear problems. A large effort is then spent on finding a good strategy for solving these linear problems. This involves choosing suitable preconditioners and linear solvers. This approach is in many cases a good choice and a multitude of different methods have been developed. However, the linearization step to some degree involves a loss of information about the original problem. This is not necessarily critical, but in many cases the structure of the nonlinear problem can be exploited to a larger extent than what is possible when working solely on the linearized problem. This may involve knowledge about dominating physical processes and specifically on whether a process is near equilibrium. By using nonlinear preconditioning techniques developed in recent years, certain attractive features such as automatic localization of computations to parts of the problem domain with the highest degree of nonlinearities arise. In the present work, these methods are further refined to obtain a framework for nonlinear preconditioning that also takes into account equilibrium information. This framework is developed mainly in the context of porous media, but in a general manner, allowing for application to a wide range of problems. A scalability study shows that the method is scalable for challenging two-phase flow problems. It is also demonstrated for nonlinear elasticity problems. Some models arising from nonlinear conservation laws are best solved using completely different strategies than the approach outlined above. One such example can be found in the field of surface gravity waves. For special types of nonlinear waves, such as solitary waves and undular bores, the well-known Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation has been shown to be a suitable model. This equation has many interesting properties not typical of nonlinear equations which may be exploited in the solver, and strategies usually reserved to linear problems may be applied. In this work includes a comparative study of two discretization methods with highly different properties for this equation