Time evolution of the scattering data for a fourth-order linear differential operator

Abstract

The time evolution of the scattering and spectral data is obtained for the differential operator $\displaystyle\frac{d^4}{dx^4} +\displaystyle\frac{d}{dx} u(x,t)\displaystyle\frac{d}{dx}+v(x,t),$ where $u(x,t)$ and $v(x,t)$ are real-valued potentials decaying exponentially as $x\to\pm\infty$ at each fixed $t.$ The result is relevant in a crucial step of the inverse scattering transform method that is used in solving the initial-value problem for a pair of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations satisfied by $u(x,t)$ and $v(x,t).$