Dynamical understanding of loop soliton solution for several nonlinear wave equations (Q2454653)

The paper addresses the so-called loop solutions which were recently found, in an exact analytical form, in the Vakhnenko equation, \[ u_{xt} + (uu_x)_x + u = 0, \] short-pulse equation (which may have some applications to nonlinear optics), \[ u_{xt} = u + (1/6) (u^3)_{xx}, \] and in an extended Korteweg-de Vries equation. Actually, these are solutions to the respective ordinary differential equations (ODEs) obtained by substitution \(u = u(x - ct)\). The present paper analyzes the phase space of the ODE corresponding to each of the above-mentioned PDEs. The main conclusion is that, in each case, the loop solution is not a true single solution, but rather a combination of three different solutions, each of them beginning or ending at a fixed point of the saddle type.