The Mechanism of Kuznetsov-Ma Breather

Abstract

We discuss how to understand the dynamical process of Kuznetsov-Ma breather, based on some basic physical mechanisms. It is shown that dynamical process of Kuznetsov-Ma breather involves at least two distinctive mechanisms: modulational instability, and the interference effects between a bright soliton and a plane wave background. Our analysis indicates that modulational instability plays dominant roles in mechanism of Kuznetsov-Ma breather admitting weak perturbations, and the interference effect plays dominant role for the Kuznetsov-Ma breather admitting strong perturbations. For intermediate cases, the two mechanisms are both involved greatly. These characters provide a possible way to understand the evolution of strong perturbations on a plane wave background.