Nonlinear waves, modulations and rogue waves in the modular Korteweg-de Vries equation

Abstract: Effects of nonlinear dynamics of solitary waves and wave modulations within the modular (also known as quadratically cubic) Korteweg - de Vries equation are studied analytically and numerically. Large wave events can occur in the course of interaction between solitons of different signs. Stable and unstable (finite-time-lived) breathers can be generated in inelastic collisions of solitons and from perturbations of two polarities. A nonlinear evolution equation on long modulations of quasi-sinusoidal waves is derived, which is the modular or quadratically cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation. Its solutions in the form of envelope solitons describe breathers of the modular Korteweg - de Vries equation. The instability conditions are obtained from the linear stability analysis of periodic wave perturbations. Rogue-wave-type solutions emerging due to the modulational instability in the modular Korteweg - de Vries equation are simulated numerically. They exhibit similar wave amplification, but develop faster than in the Benjamin - Feir instability described by the cubic nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation.