Dispersive shock waves in three dimensional Benjamin–Ono equation

Abstract

Dispersive shock waves (DSWs) in the three dimensional Benjamin–Ono (3DBO) equation are studied with step-like initial condition along a paraboloid front. By using a similarity reduction, the problem of studying DSWs in three space one time (3+1) dimensions reduces to finding DSW solution of a (1+1) dimensional equation. By using a special ansatz, the 3DBO equation exactly reduces to the spherical Benjamin–Ono (sBO) equation. Whitham modulation equations are derived which describes DSW evolution in the sBO equation by using a perturbation method. These equations are written in terms of appropriate Riemann type variables to obtain the sBO-Whitham system. DSW solution which is obtained from the numerical solutions of the Whitham system and the direct numerical solution of the sBO equation are compared. In this comparison, a good agreement is found between these solutions. Also, some physical qualitative results about DSWs in sBO equation are presented. It is concluded that DSW solutions in the reduced sBO equation provide some information about DSW behavior along the paraboloid fronts in the 3DBO equation.