High-order nonlinear schr odinger equation for the envelope of slowly modulated gravity waves on the surface of finite-depth fluid and its quasi-soliton solutions

Abstract

We consider the high-order nonlinear Schrödinger equation derived earlier by Sedletsky Ukr. J. Phys. 48(1), 82 (2003) for the first-harmonic envelope of slowly modulated gravity waves on the surface of finite-depth irrotational, inviscid, and incompressible fluid with flat bottom. This equation takes into account the third-order dispersion and cubic nonlinear dispersive terms. We rewrite this equation in dimensionless form featuring only one dimensionless parameter 𝑘ℎ, where 𝑘 is the carrier wavenumber and ℎ is the undisturbed fluid depth. We show that one-soliton solutions of the classical nonlinear Schrödinger equation are transformed into quasi-soliton solutions with slowly varying amplitude when the high-order terms are taken into consideration. These quasi-soliton solutions represent the secondary modulations of gravity waves.