A simplified version of Hirota's method for the computation of solitary waves
and solitons of nonlinear PDEs is presented. A change of dependent variable
transforms the PDE into an equation that is homogeneous of degree. Solitons are
then computed using a perturbation-like scheme involving linear and nonlinear
operators in a finite number of steps.
The method is applied to a class of fifth-order KdV equations due to Lax,
Sawada-Kotera, and Kaup-Kupershmidt. The method works for non-quadratic
homogeneous equations for which the bilinear form might not be known.
Furthermore, homogenization of degree allows one to compute solitary wave
solutions of nonlinear PDEs that do not have solitons. Examples include the
Fisher and FitzHugh-Nagumo equations, and a combined KdV-Burgers equation. When
applied to a wave equation with a cubic source term, one gets a bi-soliton
solution describing the coalescence of two wavefronts. The method is largely
algorithmic and is implemented in Mathematica.Comment: Proceedings Conference on Nonlinear and Modern Mathematical Physics
(NMMP-2022) Springer Proceedings in Mathematics and Statistics, 60pp,
Springer-Verlag, New York, 202