Gray solitons on the surface of water

Amin Chabchoub (1) , Christian Kharif (2) , Hubert Branger (2) , M. Onorato (3) , Nail Akhmediev (4) , Norbert Hoffmann (5) , Olivier Kimmoun (2)

1 Centre for Ocean Engineering Science and Technology
2 IRPHE - Institut de Recherche sur les Phénomènes Hors Equilibre
3 Dipartimento di Fisica [Torino]
4 Res Sch Phys Sci & Engn, Opt Sci Grp
5 Imperial College London

The dynamics of surface gravity water waves can be described by the self-defocusing nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation. Recent observations of black solitons on the surface of water confirmed its validity for finite, below critical depth. The black soliton is a limiting case of a family of gray soliton solutions with finite amplitude depressions. Here, we report observations of gray solitons in water waves, thus, complementing our previous observations of black solitons.

Mots clés: Breathers; Schrodinger Equation; non linear waves

Mots clés: Soliton pulsé

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Océan, Atmosphère

Amin Chabchoub, Christian Kharif, Hubert Branger, M. Onorato, Nail Akhmediev, et al.. Gray solitons on the surface of water. Physical Review, 2014, Physical review E, E 89, 01 1002 R (01 1002), pp.5. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.89.011002⟩. ⟨hal-01078608⟩