Two-crested Stokes waves

Water waves, gravity waves; dispersion and scattering, nonlinear interaction (76B15) Hydrodynamic stability (76E99) Basic methods in fluid mechanics (76M99)

Review text

This manuscript addresses the existence and structure of two-crested travelling gravity waves, denoted class II Stokes waves, on an infinitely deep ideal fluid. Building upon the pioneering computations of \textit{B. Chen} and \textit{P. G. Saffman} [Stud. Appl. Math. 62, 1--21 (1980; Zbl 0446.76023)] and subsequent analytical advances on Stokes waves of greatest height, the work seeks to chart the bifurcation landscape issuing from period-doubling instabilities of the classical one-crested (class I) branch and to characterise the strongly nonlinear regimes in which the class II waves attain a limiting, corner-forming profile.\N\NThe scientific problem centres on understanding how multi-crested steady waves emerge, evolve and terminate, and whether their hierarchy mirrors the celebrated oscillatory approach of class I waves towards the Stokes extreme form. Prior numerical evidence had been confined to a handful of small-amplitude class II solutions; rigorous existence results and systematic continuation deep into the nonlinear regime remained unavailable. By locating successive period-doubling points along the primary branch at steepness values \(s_{1}=0.128903\) and \(s_{2}=0.140487\), the author is able to follow two entire families, termed the secondary and tertiary branches, thereby revealing that distinct bifurcations give rise to disconnected continua of class II waves, each apparently converging to its own limiting configuration.\N\NMethodologically, the study reformulates the free-boundary Euler equations through the conformal-map version of the Babenko equation, posed for the vertical surface displacement \(y(u)\) in the complex plane and incorporating the periodic Hilbert transform. The travelling-wave reduction yields a one-parameter nonlinear operator equation, solved in Fourier space via a Newton-MINRES iteration that circumvents the indefiniteness of the linearised operator. Initial guesses are supplied by rescaling class I solutions at the identified double-period bifurcation points, while an auxiliary adaptive conformal map accelerates convergence near impending singularities. Computations are performed with spectral accuracy, enabling the detection of rapid oscillations in invariant quantities as steepness increases.\N\NThe continuation uncovers rich oscillatory behaviour in wave speed \(c\) and Hamiltonian \(\mathcal H\) as functions of steepness. On the secondary branch the speed records successive minima and maxima and approaches a limiting value \(c_{\mathrm{lim}}\approx 0.7635\), lower than the limiting speed of class I waves. Simultaneously, a \(120^{\circ}\) corner develops at the taller crest, while the shorter crest exhibits an infinite sequence of amplitude oscillations without corner formation. The tertiary branch displays analogous spiralling in the \((c, \mathcal H)\) plane but converges towards a distinct limit, confirming that each double-period bifurcation seeds an independent family. Height differences between the two crests grow monotonically along both branches, in striking agreement with, and substantial extension of, the early data of Chen and Saffman [loc. cit.].\N\NA key theoretical insight is that every extremum of the velocity-steepness curve on the primary branch corresponds to a zero eigenvalue of the linearised Babenko operator in the doubled-period space; hence infinitely many secondary bifurcations to class II waves must exist. Within the class II families themselves further bifurcations to waves with four crests per wavelength (class IV) are observed, accompanied by the onset of new linear instabilities. These findings strongly suggest an intricate cascade of nested multi-crest branches, each terminating in a limiting wave distinguished by its own speed and Hamiltonian, and each potentially subject to distinct modulational and superharmonic instabilities.\N\NIn conclusion, the study furnishes the most comprehensive numerical portrait to date of two-crested Stokes waves, demonstrating their disconnected, oscillatory continuation from the primary branch, establishing the presence of branch-specific limiting forms, and uncovering evidence for an infinite hierarchy of higher-order bifurcations. By refining the spectral-conformal methodology and achieving near-corner resolution, the work not only corroborates longstanding conjectures on the multiplicity of extreme steady waves but also lays essential groundwork for rigorous existence proofs, stability analyses and experimental validation within the broader theory of nonlinear water waves.

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