Structure of Korteweg models and stability of diffuse interfaces (Q2368808)

The authors consider the asymptotic behaviour of Korteweg-type models for compressible fluids endowed with internal capillarity. Particular consideration is given to Hamiltonian structures. They consider travelling wave solutions, and in particular the question of the stability of homoclinic waves (solitary waves or solitons) and of heteroclinic waves (kinks). In the case of solitary waves, use is made of the ``moment of instability'' of the soliton, which can be evaluated numerically with high precision; the convexity of its graph over solitons with the same endstates, which determines stability, is then strightforward to check. The authors' results for diffuse interfaces rely on their interpretation as critical points of the Hamiltonian under constraints.