Journal article
Small-time asymptotics and the emergence of complex singularities for the KdV equation
- Abstract:
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While real-valued solutions of the Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation have been studied extensively over the past 50 years, much less attention has been devoted to solution behaviour in the complex plane. Here we consider the analytic continuation of real solutions of KdV and investigate the role that complex-plane singularities play in earlytime solutions on the real line. We apply techniques of exponential asymptotics to derive the small-time behaviour for dispersive waves that propagate in one direction, and demonstrate how the amplitude, wavelength and speed of these waves depend on the strength and location of double-pole singularities of the initial condition in the complex plane. Using matched asymptotic expansions in the limit 𝑡 → 0+, we show how complex singularities of the timedependent solution of the KdV equation emerge from these double-pole singularities. Generically, their speed as they move from their initial position is of O(𝑡−2/3), while the direction in which these singularities propagate initially is dictated by a Painlevé II (PII) problem with decreasing tritronquée solutions. The well-known 𝑁-soliton solutions of KdV correspond to rational solutions of PII with a finite number of singularities; otherwise, we postulate that infinitely many complex-plane singularities of KdV solutions are born at each double-pole singularity of the initial condition. We also provide asymptotic results for some non-generic cases in which singularities propagate more slowly than in the generic case. Our study makes progress towards the goal of providing a complete description of KdV solutions in the complex plane and, in turn, of relating this behaviour to the solution on the real line.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 3.1MB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1017/jnw.2026.10033
Authors
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Journal:
- Journal of Nonlinear Waves More from this journal
- Volume:
- 2
- Article number:
- e6
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-05
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-02-23
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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3033-4268
- Language:
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English
- Keywords:
- Pubs id:
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2381277
- Local pid:
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pubs:2381277
- Deposit date:
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2026-02-24
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- McCue et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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