Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation

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In mathematics, the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation (or KP equation) is a partial differential equation. It is also sometimes called the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili-Boussinesq equation. The KP equation is usually written as:

\partial_x(\partial_t u+u \partial_x u+\epsilon^2\partial_{xxx}u)+\lambda\partial_{yy}u=0

where \lambda=\pm 1. The above form shows that the KP equation is a generalization of the Korteweg–de Vries equation.

Like the KdV equation, the KP equation is completely integrable. It can also be solved using the inverse scattering transform much like the nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

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[edit] History

As a natural generalization of the KdV equation (Derived by Korteweg and De Vries in 1895), the KP equation was first discovered (in 1970) by Kadomtsev & Petviashvili when they relaxed the restriction that the waves be strictly one-dimensional.

[edit] Connections to physics

The KP equation can be used to model shallow-water waves with weakly non-linear restoring forces. If surface tension is weak compared to gravitational forces, λ = + 1 is used; if surface tension is strong, then λ = − 1. Because of the asymmetry in the way x- and y-terms enter the equation, the waves described by the KP equation behave differently in the direction of propagation (x-direction) and transverse (y) direction; oscillations in the y-direction tend to be smoother (be of small-deviation).

The KP equation can also be used to model waves in ferromagnetic media, as well as two-dimensional matter-wave pulses in Bose–Einstein condensates.

[edit] Limiting behavior

For \epsilon\ll 1, typical x-dependent oscillations have a wavelength of O(1 / ε) giving a singular limiting regime as \epsilon\rightarrow 0. The limit \epsilon\rightarrow 0 is called the dispersionless limit.

If we also assume that the solutions are independent of y as \epsilon\rightarrow 0, then they also satisfy Burgers' equation:

\partial_t u+u\partial_x u=0.

Suppose the amplitude of oscillations of a solution is asymptotically small — O(ε) — in the dispersionless limit. Then the amplitude satisfies a mean-field equation of Davey–Stewartson type.

[edit] References

  • BB Kadomtsev, and VI Petviashvili, On the Stability of Solitary Waves in Weakly Dispersive Media, Sov. Phys. Dokl., 15, (1970) 539-541.
  • Weisstein, Eric W., Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation at MathWorld.
  • Bernard Deconinck, The KP page, University of Washington Department of Applied Mathematics.
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