Solitary wave interactions and reshaping in coupled systems

The interaction of the components of composite solitary waves governed by nonlinear coupled equations is studied numerically. It is shown how predictions of the known exact traveling wave solutions may help in understanding and explaining the process of reshaping seen as head-on and take-over collisions of individual solitary waves. The most interesting results concern the switch in the sign or the periodic modulation of the amplitude of the solitary wave and the direction of its propagation due to collisions.

Research Highlights► Change of the sign of the solitary wave amplitude and direction due to head-on collision with another solitary wave. ► Use of particular exact solutions for understanding more general numerical results. ► Periodical variations in the amplitude of the solitary wave due to nonlinear waves interaction.