Group-wave resonances in nonlinear dispersive media: The case of gravity water waves

The dynamics of coherent nonlinear wave groups is shown to be drastically different from the classical scenario of weakly nonlinear wave interactions. The coherent groups generate non-resonant (bound) waves which can be synchronized with other linear waves. By virtue of the revealed mechanism the groups may emit waves with similar or different lengths, which propagate in the same or opposite direction

Lifetimes of rogue wave events in direct numerical simulations of deep-water irregular sea waves

The issue of rogue wave lifetimes is addressed in this study, which helps to detail the general picture of this dangerous oceanic phenomenon. The direct numerical simulations of irregular wave ensembles are performed to obtain the complete accurate data on the rogue wave occurrence and evolution. The simulations are conducted by means of the HOS scheme for the potential Euler equations; purely collinear wave systems, moderately crested and short-crested sea states have been simulated. We join instant abnormally high waves in close locations and close time moments to new objects, rogue events, what helps to retrieve the abnormal occurrences more stably and more consistently from the physical point of view. The rogue wave event probability distributions are built based on the simulated wave data. They show the distinctive difference between rough sea states with small directional bandwidth on the one part, and small-amplitude states and short-crested states on the other part. The former support long-living rogue wave patterns (the corresponding probability distributions have heavy tails), though the latter possess exponential probability distributions of rogue event lifetimes and produce much shorter rogue wave events

Nonlinear dynamics of trapped waves on jet currents and rogue waves

Nonlinear dynamics of surface gravity waves trapped by an opposing jet current is studied analytically and numerically. For wave fields narrowband in frequency but not necessarily with narrow angular distributions the developed asymptotic weakly nonlinear theory based on the modal approach of (V. Shrira, A. Slunyaev, J. Fluid. Mech, 738, 65, 2014) leads to the one-dimensional modified nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation of self-focusing type for a single mode. Its solutions such as envelope solitons and breathers are considered to be prototypes of rogue waves; these solutions, in contrast to waves in the absence of currents, are robust with respect to transverse perturbations, which suggests potentially higher probability of rogue waves. Robustness of the long-lived analytical solutions in form of the modulated trapped waves and solitary wave groups is verified by direct numerical simulations of potential Euler equations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 3 movies (supplemental materials, not enclosed to this submission

On the incomplete recurrence of modulationally unstable deep-water surface gravity waves

The issue of a recurrence of the modulationally unstable water wave trains within the framework of the fully nonlinear potential Euler equations is addressed. It is examined, in particular, if a modulation which appears from nowhere (i.e., is infinitesimal initially) and generates a rogue wave which then disappears with no trace. If so, this wave solution would be a breather solution of the primitive hydrodynamic equations. It is shown with the help of the fully nonlinear numerical simulation that when a rogue wave occurs from a uniform Stokes wave train, it excites other waves which have different lengths, what prevents the complete recurrence and, eventually, results in a quasi-periodic breathing of the wave envelope. Meanwhile the discovered effects are rather small in magnitude, and the period of the modulation breathing may be thousands of the dominant wave periods. Thus, the obtained solution may be called a quasi-breather of the Euler equations

Account of occasional wave breaking in numerical simulations of irregular water waves in the focus of the rogue wave problem

The issue of accounting of the wave breaking phenomenon in direct numerical simulations of oceanic waves is discussed. It is emphasized that this problem is crucial for the deterministic description of waves, and also for the dynamical calculation of extreme wave statistical characteristics, such as rogue wave height probability, asymmetry, etc. The conditions for reproducible simulations of irregular steep waves within the High Order Spectral Method for the potential Euler equations are identified. Such non-dissipative simulations are considered as the reference when comparing with the simulations which use two kinds of wave breaking regularization. It is shown that the perturbations caused by the wave breaking attenuation may be noticeable within 20 min of the wave evolution

The pressure field beneath intense surface water wave groups

A weakly-nonlinear potential theory is developed for the description of deep penetrating pressure fields caused by single and colliding wave groups of collinear waves due to the second-order nonlinear interactions. The result is applied to the representative case of groups with the sech-shape of envelope solitons in deep water. When solitary groups experience a head-on collision, the induced due to nonlinearity dynamic pressure may have magnitude comparable with the magnitude of the linear solution. It attenuates with depth with characteristic length of the group, which may greatly exceed the individual wave length. In general the picture of the dynamic pressure beneath intense wave groups looks complicated. The qualitative difference in the structure of the induced pressure field for unidirectional and opposite wave trains is emphasized

The role of multiple soliton and breather interactions in generation of rogue waves: the mKdV framework

The role of multiple soliton and breather interactions in formation of very high waves is disclosed within the framework of integrable modified Korteweg - de Vries (mKdV) equation. Optimal conditions for the focusing of many solitons are formulated explicitly. Namely, trains of ordered solitons with alternate polarities evolve to huge strongly localized transient waves. The focused wave amplitude is exactly the sum of the focusing soliton heights; the maximum wave inherits the polarity of the fastest soliton in the train. The focusing of several solitary waves or/and breathers may naturally occur in a soliton gas and will lead to rogue-wave-type dynamics; hence it represents a new nonlinear mechanism of rogue wave generation. The discovered scenario depends crucially on the soliton polarities (phases), and thus cannot be taken into account by existing kinetic theories. The performance of the soliton mechanism of rogue wave generation is shown for the example of focusing mKdV equation, when solitons possess 'frozen' phases (polarities), though the approach works in other integrable systems which admit soliton and breather solutions

Wave amplification in the framework of forced nonlinear Schrodinger equation: the rogue wave context

Irregular waves which experience the time-limited external forcing within the framework of the nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation are studied numerically. It is shown that the adiabatically slow pumping (the time scale of forcing is much longer than the nonlinear time scale) results in selective enhancement of the solitary part of the wave ensemble. The slow forcing provides eventually wider wavenumber spectra, larger values of kurtosis and higher probability of large waves. In the opposite case of rapid forcing the nonlinear waves readjust passing through the stage of fast surges of statistical characteristics. Single forced envelope solitons are considered with the purpose to better identify the role of coherent wave groups. An approximate description on the basis of solutions of the integrable NLS equation is provided. Applicability of the Benjamin - Feir Index to forecasting of conditions favourable for rogue waves is discussed

Soliton groups as the reason for extreme statistics of unidirectional sea waves

The results of the probabilistic analysis of the direct numerical simulations of irregular unidirectional deep-water waves are discussed. It is shown that an occurrence of large-amplitude soliton-like groups represents an extraordinary case, which is able to increase noticeably the probability of high waves even in moderately rough sea conditions. The ensemble of wave realizations should be large enough to take these rare events into account. Hence we provide a striking example when long-living coherent structures make the water wave statistics extreme

On the optimal focusing of solitons and breathers in long wave models

Conditions of optimal (synchronized) collisions of any number of solitons and breathers are studied within the framework of the Gardner equation with positive cubic nonlinearity, which in the limits of small and large amplitudes tends to other long-wave models, the classic and the modified Korteweg -- de Vries equations. The local solution for an isolated soliton or breather within the Gardner equation is obtained. The wave amplitude in the focal point is calculated exactly. It exhibits a linear superposition of partial amplitudes of the solitons and breathers. The crucial role of the choice of proper soliton polarities and breather phases on the cumulative wave amplitude in the focal point is demonstrated. Solitons are most synchronized when they have alternating polarities. The straightforward link to the problem of synchronization of envelope solitons and breathers in the focusing nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is discussed (then breathers correspond to envelope solitons propagating above a condensate)