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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Moston-Duggan, Aaron J., Howls, Christopher J., Lustri, Christopher J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.06511
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author Moston-Duggan, Aaron J.
Howls, Christopher J.
Lustri, Christopher J.
author_facet Moston-Duggan, Aaron J.
Howls, Christopher J.
Lustri, Christopher J.
contents We study a discrete variant of the Airy equation, formulated as an advance-delay equation, to reveal that discretization induces the higher-order Stokes phenomenon, which is not present in the continuous Airy function and is typically only encountered in solutions to third-order or higher linear homogeneous, or nonlinear, differential equations. Using steepest descent and direct series methods, we derive asymptotic solutions and the Stokes structure. Our analysis shows that discretization produces a more intricate Stokes structure, containing higher-order Stokes phenomena and infinite accumulations of Stokes and anti-Stokes curves. The latter feature is a strictly nonlinear effect in continuous differential equations. We show that this unusual behavior can be generated in a discrete equation from a linear discretization. Numerical simulations confirm the predictions, and a direct comparison with the continuous Airy equation explains how the discretization alters the Stokes structure.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_06511
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Appearance of the higher-order Stokes phenomenon in a discrete Airy equation
Moston-Duggan, Aaron J.
Howls, Christopher J.
Lustri, Christopher J.
Mathematical Physics
Complex Variables
30E, 30B, 39, 41
We study a discrete variant of the Airy equation, formulated as an advance-delay equation, to reveal that discretization induces the higher-order Stokes phenomenon, which is not present in the continuous Airy function and is typically only encountered in solutions to third-order or higher linear homogeneous, or nonlinear, differential equations. Using steepest descent and direct series methods, we derive asymptotic solutions and the Stokes structure. Our analysis shows that discretization produces a more intricate Stokes structure, containing higher-order Stokes phenomena and infinite accumulations of Stokes and anti-Stokes curves. The latter feature is a strictly nonlinear effect in continuous differential equations. We show that this unusual behavior can be generated in a discrete equation from a linear discretization. Numerical simulations confirm the predictions, and a direct comparison with the continuous Airy equation explains how the discretization alters the Stokes structure.
title Appearance of the higher-order Stokes phenomenon in a discrete Airy equation
topic Mathematical Physics
Complex Variables
30E, 30B, 39, 41
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.06511