Dynamics of complex-valued modified KdV solitons with applications to the stability of breathers (Q2349395)

Stability of breathers in the modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation is studied both in real-valued and complex-valued coordinates. In real-valued coordinates, the authors have established in the previous work [Commun. Math. Phys. 324, No. 1, 233--262 (2013; Zbl 1280.35123)] that the breathers are orbitally stable in \(H^2\). In this work, the authors improve this result and prove that the breathers are actually stable with respect to perturbations in \(H^1\). The main new ingredient of the proof is the use of a Backlund transformation that relates the behavior of breathers and small solutions of the mKdV equation. Moreover, the authors prove that the breathers of negative energy are asymptotically stable in the mKdV equation. In complex-valued coordinates, solutions of the mKdV equation blow up typically in a finite time. However, the authors establish stability properties of the solutions in \(H^1\), uniformly away from each blow-up point.