Numerical simulations of internal solitary waves with vortex cores

Abstract

This paper deals with the numerical verification of the theory developed by Derzho and Grimshaw (DG) (, Phys. Fluids 9(11), 3378–3385) regarding solitary waves in stratified fluids with recirculation regions. The Boussinesq approximation is made and the stratification is chosen such that the Brunt-Väisälä frequency differs only slightly from uniform stratification. To establish the consistency of the numerical scheme the usual KdV and mKdV solutions are tested first and then the solutions obtained by DG are considered. It is found that these waves remain of permanent form and are stationary when viewed at their corresponding phase speed. The recirculation region remains stagnant to first order as predicted by DG.