On the spectral stability of periodic capillary-gravity waves

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sun, Changzhen, Wahlén, Erik
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Sun, Changzhen
Wahlén, Erik
author_facet Sun, Changzhen
Wahlén, Erik
contents In this paper, we investigate the spectral stability of periodic traveling waves in the two dimensional gravity-capillary water wave problem. We derive a stability criterion based on an index function, whose sign determines the spectral stability of the waves. This result aligns with earlier formal analyses by Djordjević \& Redekopp [15] and Ablowitz \& Segur [1], which employed the nonlinear Schrödinger approximation in the modulational regime. In particular, we show that instability is excluded near spectral crossings away from the origin when the surface tension is positive and the inverse square of the Froude number $α\in(0,1),$ which results from the fact that the corresponding Krein signatures are identical. It is also shown that there exists $α_1 = (23 - 3\sqrt{41})/8$ and a curve $β: (α_1, 1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{+},$ such that for any $α\in (α_1, 1]$, small amplitude periodic waves are spectrally stable when $β> β(α)$. These findings highlight the stabilizing effect of surface tension on periodic capillary-gravity waves.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_17534
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the spectral stability of periodic capillary-gravity waves
Sun, Changzhen
Wahlén, Erik
Analysis of PDEs
In this paper, we investigate the spectral stability of periodic traveling waves in the two dimensional gravity-capillary water wave problem. We derive a stability criterion based on an index function, whose sign determines the spectral stability of the waves. This result aligns with earlier formal analyses by Djordjević \& Redekopp [15] and Ablowitz \& Segur [1], which employed the nonlinear Schrödinger approximation in the modulational regime. In particular, we show that instability is excluded near spectral crossings away from the origin when the surface tension is positive and the inverse square of the Froude number $α\in(0,1),$ which results from the fact that the corresponding Krein signatures are identical. It is also shown that there exists $α_1 = (23 - 3\sqrt{41})/8$ and a curve $β: (α_1, 1]\rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{+},$ such that for any $α\in (α_1, 1]$, small amplitude periodic waves are spectrally stable when $β> β(α)$. These findings highlight the stabilizing effect of surface tension on periodic capillary-gravity waves.
title On the spectral stability of periodic capillary-gravity waves
topic Analysis of PDEs
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.17534