Linear asymptotic stability and modulation behavior near periodic waves of the Korteweg-de Vries equation (Q1706637)

The author studies the dynamics obtained by linearizing the Korteweg-de Vries equation about the cnoidal wave -- its periodic traveling wave. The global-in-time bounded stability in Sobolev spaces as well as asymptotic stability of dispersive type are proved. A leading-order description of the dynamics in terms of slow modulation of local parameters is given. This requires a global-in-time study of the dynamics generated by a nonnormal operator with nonconstant coefficients. Estimates on oscillatory integrals suitable to determine large-time behavior of asymptotic systems are also derived.