Variational approximations of soliton dynamics in the Ablowitz-Musslimani nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Abstract: We study the integrable nonlocal nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation proposed by Ablowitz and Musslimani, that is considered as a particular example of equations with parity-time ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetric self-induced potential. We consider dynamics (including collisions) of moving solitons. Analytically we develop a collective coordinate approach based on variational methods and examine its applicability in the system. We show numerically that a single moving soliton can pass the origin and decay or be trapped at the origin and blows up at a finite time. Using a standard soliton ansatz, the variational approximation can capture the dynamics well, including the finite-time blow up, even though the ansatz is relatively far from the actual blowing-up soliton solution. In the case of two solitons moving towards each other, we show that there can be a mass transfer between them, in addition to wave scattering. We also demonstrate that defocusing nonlinearity can support bright solitons.