Abstract
The Korteweg-de Vries equation was originally derived as a model for unidirectional propagation of water waves. This equation possesses a special class of traveling-wave solutions corresponding to surface solitary waves. It also has permanent-wave solutions which are periodic in space, the so-called cnoidal waves. A classical observation of Korteweg and de Vries was that the solitary wave is obtained as a certain limit of cnoidal wavetrains.
This result is extended here, in the context of the Korteweg-de Vries equation. It is demonstrated that a general class of solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries equation is obtained as limiting forms of periodic solutions, as the period becomes large.
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Bona, J.L. Convergence of periodic wavetrains in the limit of large wavelength. Applied Scientific Research 37, 21–30 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382614
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00382614