Higher order smooth positon and breather positon solutions of an extended nonlinear Schrödinger equation with the cubic and quartic nonlinearity

Abstract: We construct certain higher order smooth positon and breather positon solutions of an extended nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with the cubic and quartic nonlinearity. We utilize the generalized Darboux transformation method to construct the aforementioned solutions. The three well-known equations, namely nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, Hirota equation, and generalized nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation, are sub-cases of the considered extended nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. The solutions which we construct are more general. We analyze how the positon and breather positon solutions of the constituent equations get modified by the higher order nonlinear and dispersion terms. Our results show that the width and direction of the smooth positon and breather-positon solutions are highly sensitive to higher-order effects. Further, we carryout an asymptotic analysis to predict the behaviour of positons. We observe that during collision positons exhibit a time-dependent phase shift. We also present the exact expression of time-dependent phase shift of positons. Finally, we show that this time-dependent phase shift is directly proportional to the higher order nonlinear and dispersion parameters.