The semiclassical modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation I: Modulation theory and spectral analysis (Q927894)

The paper reports a consistent analysis of the semiclassical (i.e., weakly dispersive) approximation for the integrable derivative nonlinear Schrödinger (DNLS) equation, \[ i\epsilon\phi_t +(1/2)\epsilon^2\phi_{xx} + |\phi|^2\phi + i\alpha\epsilon (|\phi|^2\phi)_x = 0, \] where both coefficients \(\alpha\) and \(\epsilon\) are positive. The semiclassical case corresponds to solutions generated by initial conditions in the form of \(\phi_0(x) = A(x)\exp\left(iS(x)/\epsilon\right)\) with regular real functions \(A(x)\) and \(S(x)\), where the limit case of \(\epsilon \to +0\) should be considered. The work includes several topics. One of them is analysis of the modulational (in)stability of continuous-wave (CW) solutions (those with a constant amplitude) of the DNLS equation. It is demonstrated that the family of the CW solutions includes both modulationally stable and unstable subfamilies. Modulational equations of the Witham type for the DNLS equation, which is a natural approximation for the semiclassical case (and are relevant to the study of the modulational stability of the CWs against long-wave perturbations), are derived too. Further, solutions of the direct and inverse scattering problems (the latter one posed in the form of the Riemann-Hilbert problem), which are fundamental ingredients of the inverse-scattering method that provides the integrability of the DNLS equation, are analyzed too, in the framework of the semiclassical approximation. To obtain the results in a more explicit form, the special case of the above-mentioned initial condition, with \(A(x) = \nu\,\)sech\((x)\), \(S(x) = \int_0^x[\delta + \mu \tanh(x')]dx'\), is additionally considered. In this case, the direct scattering problem for the DNLS equation reduces to the standard hypergeometric equation, hence an explicit solution is available. This solution helps to analyze the semiclassical limit in full detail.