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Collisions between two solitary waves. Part 2. A numerical study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

Rida M. Mirie
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A. Present address: Department of Math. Sciences, University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
C. H. Su
Affiliation:
Division of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, U.S.A.

Abstract

Collisions between two solitary waves are investigated using a numerical scheme. The phase shifts and maximum amplitude of a collision are checked with a corresponding perturbation calculation and compared with the available experiments. We found a wave train trailing behind each of the emerging solitary waves from a head-on collision. The properties of the wave train are in agreement with those of the perturbation solution. After the collision, the solitary waves recover almost all of their original amplitude for the length of time in our calculation. However, the difference (less than 2 % of their original value) persists and accounts for the energy residing in the wave train.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1982 Cambridge University Press

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