Waves that appear from nowhere and disappear without a trace

N. Akhmediev, A. Ankiewicz*, M. Taki

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    1120 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The title (WANDT) can be applied to two objects: rogue waves in the ocean and rational solutions of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). There is a hierarchy of rational solutions of 'focussing' NLSE with increasing order and with progressively increasing amplitude. As the equation can be applied to waves in the deep ocean, the solutions can describe "rogue waves" with virtually infinite amplitude. They can appear from smooth initial conditions that are only slightly perturbed in a special way, and are given by our exact solutions. Thus, a slight perturbation on the ocean surface can dramatically increase the amplitude of the singular wave event that appears as a result.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)675-678
    Number of pages4
    JournalPhysics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics
    Volume373
    Issue number6
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2009

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