Dynamics of interlacing peakons (and shockpeakons) in the Geng-Xue equation

We consider multipeakon solutions, and to some extent also multishockpeakon solutions, of a coupled two-component integrable PDE found by Geng and Xue as a generalization of Novikov's cubically nonlinear Camassa-Holm type equation. In order to make sense of such solutions, we find it necessary to assume that there are no overlaps, meaning that a peakon or shockpeakon in one component is not allowed to occupy the same position as a peakon or shockpeakon in the other component. Therefore one can distinguish many inequivalent configurations, depending on the order in which the peakons or shockpeakons in the two components appear relative to each other. Here we are in particular interested in the case of interlacing peakon solutions, where the peakons alternatingly occur in one component and in the other. Based on explicit expressions for these solutions in terms of elementary functions, we describe the general features of the dynamics, and in particular the asymptotic large-time behaviour. As far as the positions are concerned, interlacing Geng-Xue peakons display the usual scattering phenomenon where the peakons asymptotically travel with constant velocities, which are all distinct, except that the two fastest peakons will have the same velocity. However, in contrast to many other peakon equations, the amplitudes of the peakons will not in general tend to constant values; instead they grow or decay exponentially. Thus the logarithms of the amplitudes (as functions of time) will asymptotically behave like straight lines, and comparing these lines for large positive and negative times, one observes phase shifts similar to those seen for the positions of the peakons. In addition to these K+K interlacing pure peakon solutions, we also investigate 1+1 shockpeakon solutions, and collisions leading to shock formation in a 2+2 peakon-antipeakon solution.Comment: 59 pages, 6 figures. pdfLaTeX + AMS packages + hyperref + TikZ. Changes in v2: minor typos corrected, reference list updated and enhanced with hyperlink

Non-interlacing peakon solutions of the Geng-Xue equation

The aim of the present paper is to derive explicit formulas for arbitrary peakon solutions of the Geng-Xue equation, a two-component generalization of Novikov's cubically nonlinear Camassa-Holm type equation. By performing limiting procedures on the previosly known formulas for so-called interlacing peakon solutions, where the peakons in the two component occur alternatingly, we turn some of the peakons into zero-amplitude "ghostpeakons", in such a way that the remaining ordinary peakons occur in any desired configuration. We also study the large-time asymptotics of these solutions.Comment: 133 pages, 25 figures. pdfLaTeX + AMS packages + hyperref + Tik

Degasperis-Procesi peakons and the discrete cubic string

We use an inverse scattering approach to study multi-peakon solutions of the Degasperis-Procesi (DP) equation, an integrable PDE similar to the Camassa-Holm shallow water equation. The spectral problem associated to the DP equation is equivalent under a change of variables to what we call the cubic string problem, which is a third order non-selfadjoint generalization of the well-known equation describing the vibrational modes of an inhomogeneous string attached at its ends. We give two proofs that the eigenvalues of the cubic string are positive and simple; one using scattering properties of DP peakons, and another using the Gantmacher-Krein theory of oscillatory kernels. For the discrete cubic string (analogous to a string consisting of n point masses) we solve explicitly the inverse spectral problem of reconstructing the mass distribution from suitable spectral data, and this leads to explicit formulas for the general n-peakon solution of the DP equation. Central to our study of the inverse problem is a peculiar type of simultaneous rational approximation of the two Weyl functions of the cubic string, similar to classical Pade-Hermite approximation but with lower order of approximation and an additional symmetry condition instead. The results obtained are intriguing and nontrivial generalizations of classical facts from the theory of Stieltjes continued fractions and orthogonal polynomials.Comment: 58 pages, LaTeX with AMS packages, to appear in International Mathematics Research Paper

The Canada Day Theorem

The Canada Day Theorem is an identity involving sums of $k \times k$ minors of an arbitrary $n \times n$ symmetric matrix. It was discovered as a by-product of the work on so-called peakon solutions of an integrable nonlinear partial differential equation proposed by V. Novikov. Here we present another proof of this theorem, which explains the underlying mechanism in terms of the orbits of a certain abelian group action on the set of all $k$-edge matchings of the complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$.Comment: 16 pages. pdfLaTeX + AMS packages + TikZ. Fixed a hyperlink problem and a few typo

Quasi-Lagrangian Systems of Newton Equations

Systems of Newton equations of the form $\ddot{q}=-{1/2}A^{-1}(q)\nabla k$ with an integral of motion quadratic in velocities are studied. These equations generalize the potential case (when A=I, the identity matrix) and they admit a curious quasi-Lagrangian formulation which differs from the standard Lagrange equations by the plus sign between terms. A theory of such quasi-Lagrangian Newton (qLN) systems having two functionally independent integrals of motion is developed with focus on two-dimensional systems. Such systems admit a bi-Hamiltonian formulation and are proved to be completely integrable by embedding into five-dimensional integrable systems. They are characterized by a linear, second-order PDE which we call the fundamental equation. Fundamental equations are classified through linear pencils of matrices associated with qLN systems. The theory is illustrated by two classes of systems: separable potential systems and driven systems. New separation variables for driven systems are found. These variables are based on sets of non-confocal conics. An effective criterion for existence of a qLN formulation of a given system is formulated and applied to dynamical systems of the Henon-Heiles type.Comment: 50 pages including 9 figures. Uses epsfig package. To appear in J. Math. Phy

Explicit multipeakon solutions of Novikov's cubically nonlinear integrable Camassa-Holm type equation

Recently Vladimir Novikov found a new integrable analogue of the Camassa-Holm equation, admitting peaked soliton (peakon) solutions, which has nonlinear terms that are cubic, rather than quadratic. In this paper, the explicit formulas for multipeakon solutions of Novikov's cubically nonlinear equation are calculated, using the matrix Lax pair found by Hone and Wang. By a transformation of Liouville type, the associated spectral problem is related to a cubic string equation, which is dual to the cubic string that was previously found in the work of Lundmark and Szmigielski on the multipeakons of the Degasperis-Procesi equation.Comment: 41 pages, LaTeX + AMS packages + pstrick

Ghostpeakons and Characteristic Curves for the Camassa-Holm, Degasperis-Procesi and Novikov Equations

We derive explicit formulas for the characteristic curves associated with the multipeakon solutions of the Camassa-Holm, Degasperis-Procesi and Novikov equations. Such a curve traces the path of a fluid particle whose instantaneous velocity equals the elevation of the wave at that point (or the square of the elevation, in the Novikov case). The peakons themselves follow characteristic curves, and the remaining characteristic curves can be viewed as paths of 'ghostpeakons' with zero amplitude; hence, they can be obtained as solutions of the ODEs governing the dynamics of multipeakon solutions. The previously known solution formulas for multipeakons only cover the case when all amplitudes are nonzero, since they are based upon inverse spectral methods unable to detect the ghostpeakons. We show how to overcome this problem by taking a suitable limit in terms of spectral data, in order to force a selected peakon amplitude to become zero. Moreover, we use direct integration to compute the characteristic curves for the solution of the Degasperis-Procesi equation where a shockpeakon forms at a peakon-antipeakon collision. In addition to the theoretical interest in knowing the characteristic curves, they are also useful for plotting multipeakon solutions, as we illustrate in several examples

The inverse spectral problem for the discrete cubic string

Given a measure $m$ on the real line or a finite interval, the "cubic string" is the third order ODE $-\phi'''=zm\phi$ where $z$ is a spectral parameter. If equipped with Dirichlet-like boundary conditions this is a nonselfadjoint boundary value problem which has recently been shown to have a connection to the Degasperis-Procesi nonlinear water wave equation. In this paper we study the spectral and inverse spectral problem for the case of Neumann-like boundary conditions which appear in a high-frequency limit of the Degasperis--Procesi equation. We solve the spectral and inverse spectral problem for the case of $m$ being a finite positive discrete measure. In particular, explicit determinantal formulas for the measure $m$ are given. These formulas generalize Stieltjes' formulas used by Krein in his study of the corresponding second order ODE $-\phi''=zm\phi$.Comment: 24 pages. LaTeX + iopart, xypic, amsthm. To appear in Inverse Problems (http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/IP