Solitonic asymptotics for the Korteweg-de Vries equation in the small dispersion limit

We study the small dispersion limit for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation $u_t+6uu_x+\epsilon^{2}u_{xxx}=0$ in a critical scaling regime where $x$ approaches the trailing edge of the region where the KdV solution shows oscillatory behavior. Using the Riemann-Hilbert approach, we obtain an asymptotic expansion for the KdV solution in a double scaling limit, which shows that the oscillations degenerate to sharp pulses near the trailing edge. Locally those pulses resemble soliton solutions of the KdV equation.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figure

Asymptotics for a special solution to the second member of the Painleve I hierarchy

We study the asymptotic behavior of a special smooth solution y(x,t) to the second member of the Painleve I hierarchy. This solution arises in random matrix theory and in the study of Hamiltonian perturbations of hyperbolic equations. The asymptotic behavior of y(x,t) if x\to \pm\infty (for fixed t) is known and relatively simple, but it turns out to be more subtle when x and t tend to infinity simultaneously. We distinguish a region of algebraic asymptotic behavior and a region of elliptic asymptotic behavior, and we obtain rigorous asymptotics in both regions. We also discuss two critical transitional asymptotic regimes.Comment: 19 page

Critical asymptotic behavior for the Korteweg-de Vries equation and in random matrix theory

We discuss universality in random matrix theory and in the study of Hamiltonian partial differential equations. We focus on universality of critical behavior and we compare results in unitary random matrix ensembles with their counterparts for the Korteweg-de Vries equation, emphasizing the similarities between both subjects.Comment: review paper, 19 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the MSRI semester on `Random matrices, interacting particle systems and integrable systems

Numerical study of the small dispersion limit of the Korteweg-de Vries equation and asymptotic solutions

We study numerically the small dispersion limit for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation $u_t+6uu_x+\epsilon^{2}u_{xxx}=0$ for $\epsilon\ll1$ and give a quantitative comparison of the numerical solution with various asymptotic formulae for small $\epsilon$ in the whole $(x,t)$-plane. The matching of the asymptotic solutions is studied numerically

Transformation of a shoaling undular bore

We consider the propagation of a shallow-water undular bore over a gentle monotonic bottom slope connecting two regions of constant depth, in the framework of the variablecoefficient Korteweg – de Vries equation. We show that, when the undular bore advances in the direction of decreasing depth, its interaction with the slowly varying topography results, apart from an adiabatic deformation of the bore itself, in the generation of a sequence of isolated solitons — an expanding large-amplitude modulated solitary wavetrain propagating ahead of the bore. Using nonlinear modulation theory we construct an asymptotic solution describing the formation and evolution of this solitary wavetrain. Our analytical solution is supported by direct numerical simulations. The presented analysis can be extended to other systems describing the propagation of undular bores (dispersive shock waves) in weakly non-uniform environments