Isobe-Kakinuma model for water waves as a higher order shallow water approximation

Abstract

We justify rigorously an Isobe-Kakinuma model for water waves as a higher order shallow water approximation in the case of a flat bottom. It is known that the full water wave equations are approximated by the shallow water equations with an error of order $O(\delta^2)$, where $\delta$ is a small nondimensional parameter defined as the ratio of the mean depth to the typical wavelength. The Green-Naghdi equations are known as higher order approximate equations to the water wave equations with an error of order $O(\delta^4)$. In this paper we show that the Isobe-Kakinuma model is a much higher order approximation to the water wave equations with an error of order $O(\delta^6)$.