Computing the Maslov index of solitary waves. I: Hamiltonian systems on a four-dimensional phase space (Q732347)

The study of the stability of solitary waves using the Maslov index was pioneered in the article [\textit{C. K. R. T. Jones}, Ergodic Theory Dyn. Syst. 8, 119--138 (1988; Zbl 0636.35017)]. Geometric methods are then used to determine the Maslow index and it is used to prove an instability result. Gradient parabolic PDEs of the form \[ u_t=d_1u_{xx}+f_u(u,v),\quad v_t=d_2v_{xx}+f_v(u,v) \tag{\(*\)} \] were considered in [\textit{A. Bose} and \textit{C. K. R. T. Jones}, Indiana Univ. Math. J. 44, No. 1, 189--220 (1995; Zbl 0837.35062)] where \(d_1\) and \(d_2\) are positive parameters, \(f(u,v)\) is a given smooth function with gradient \((f_u,f_v)\). Linearization about a steady solution \((\hat{u}(x),\hat{v}(x))\) and introduction a spectral parameter lead to a coupled pair of linear second order PDEs, which can be put in standard Hamiltonian form \(\mathbf{J}\mathbf{u}_x=\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{u}_x,x,\lambda)\mathbf{u}\), \(\mathbf{u}\in \mathbb R^n\), \(\mathbf{x}\in \mathbb R\), \(\lambda\in \mathbb R\), where \(\mathbf{J}\) is the standard symplectic operator in \(\mathbb R^4\) and \(\mathbf{B}(\mathbf{x},\lambda)\) is a symmetric operator on \(\mathbb R^4\). Since the PDE is a gradient system it is sufficient to restrict the spectral parameter to be real. Singular perturbation methods are then used to determine the Maslov index, which in turn is related to stability. A key feature here is the analysis of the induced system on the exterior algebra space \(\Lambda^2(\mathbb R^4)\). The aim of this article is to develop a numerical framework for computing the Maslov index of homoclinic orbits. Therefore here the theory is developed for the class \((*)\) of parameter-dependent Hamiltonian systems.