Interfacial waves with free-surface boundary conditions: an approach via a model equation

In a two-fluid system where the lower fluid is bounded below by a rigid bottom and the upper fluid is bounded above by a free surface, two kinds of solitary waves can propagate along the interface and the free surface: classical solitary waves characterized by a solitary pulse or generalized solitary waves with nondecaying oscillations in their tails in addition to the solitary pulse. The classical solitary waves move faster than the generalized solitary waves. The origin of the nonlocal solitary waves can be understood from a physical point of view. The dispersion relation for the above system shows that short waves can propagate at the same speed as a “slow” solitary wave. The interaction between the solitary wave and the short waves creates a nonlocal solitary wave. In this paper, the interfacial-wave problem is reduced to a system of ordinary differential equations by using a classical perturbation method, which takes into consideration the possible resonance between short waves and “slow” solitary waves. In the past, classical Korteweg–de Vries type models have been derived but cannot deal with the resonance. All solutions of the new system of model equations, including classical as well as generalized solitary waves, are constructed. The domain of validity of the model is discussed as well. It is also shown that fronts connecting two conjugate states cannot occur for “fast” waves. For “slow” waves, fronts exist but they have ripples in their tails.