A Lagrangian approximation to the water-wave problem (Q5950585)

The paper is concerned with an alternative derivation of the Camassa-Holm equation for periodic waves, using a variational approach in the Lagrangian formalism. The main impetus for the results reported here comes from the observation that, as a matter of common experience, the waves observed on a beach or in a channel are approximately periodic. This motivates the need for a theory of shallow water waves that are periodic. As some of these waves break -- a phenomenon that linear wave theory cannot accommodate -- the relevant approach has to be nonlinear. So, the Camassa-Holm equation is of relevance in this theory. Generated by a water-wave problem, the Camassa-Holm equation began to make its appearance in other branches of applied mathematics and physics also. The equation was found to be a model for waves in cylindrical hyperelastic rods with \(u(t,x)\) representing the radial stretch relative to a prestressed state. The viscous three-dimensional generalization of the Camassa-Holm equation can be used as the basis for a turbulence closure model and was considered and studied in the theory of second-grade fluids.