Qualitative Description of the Particle Trajectories for the $N$-Solitons Solution of the Korteweg-de Vries Equation

Abstract

The qualitative properties of the particle trajectories of the $N$-solitons solution of the KdV equation are recovered from the first order velocity field by the introduction of the stream function. Numerical simulations show an accurate depth dependance of the particles trajectories for solitary waves. Failure of the free surface kinematic boundary condition for the first order type velocity field is highlighted.