On the variational structure of breather solutions

Abstract: In this paper we give a systematic and simple account that put in evidence that many breather solutions of integrable equations satisfy suitable variational elliptic equations, which also implies that the stability problem reduces in some sense to $(i)$ the study of the spectrum of explicit linear systems (\emph{spectral stability}), and $(ii)$ the understanding of how bad directions (if any) can be controlled using low regularity conservation laws. We exemplify this idea in the case of the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV), Gardner, and sine-Gordon (SG) equations. Then we perform numerical simulations that confirm, at the level of the spectral problem, our previous rigorous results, where we showed that mKdV breathers are $H^2$ and $H^1$ stable, respectively. In a second step, we also discuss the Gardner and the Sine-Gordon cases, where the spectral study of a fourth-order linear matrix system is the key element to show stability. Using numerical methods, we confirm that all spectral assumptions leading to the $H^2\times H^1$ stability of SG breathers are numerically satisfied, even in the ultra-relativistic, singular regime. In a second part, we study the periodic mKdV case, where a periodic breather is known from the work of Kevrekidis et al. We rigorously show that these breathers satisfy a suitable elliptic equation, and we also show numerical spectral stability. However, we also identify the source of nonlinear instability in the case described in Kevrekidis et al. Finally, we present a new class of breather solution for mKdV, believed to exist from geometric considerations, and which is periodic in time and space, but has nonzero mean, unlike standard breathers.