Solitary wave solutions of nonlinear wave equations

W. Malfliet

American Journal of Physics · 1992 · 1.5K citations · 0 references

Concepts

Abstract

A method is proposed for obtaining traveling-wave solutions of nonlinear wave equations that are essentially of a localized nature. It is based on the fact that most solutions are functions of a hyperbolic tangent. This technique is straightforward to use and only minimal algebra is needed to find these solutions. The method is applied to selected cases.