Construction of periodic and solitary wave solutions for the complex nonlinear evolution equations

In this paper, we present a functional variable method for finding periodic wave and solitary wave solutions of complex nonlinear evolution equations in mathematical physics and engineering sciences. The proposed technique is tested on the generalized Zakharov equation and higher-order nonlinear Schrödinger equations. The method is straightforward and concise, and it can also be applied to other nonlinear evolution equations in applied mathematics.