In this paper, we consider the complex modified Korteweg-de Vries (mKdV) equation as a model of few-cycle optical pulses. Using the Lax pair, we construct a generalized Darboux transformation and systematically generate the first-, second-, and third-order rogue wave solutions and analyze the nature of evolution of higher-order rogue waves in detail. Based on detailed numerical and analytical i...

Since the 1990s, the modulational instability has commonly been used to explain the occurrence of rogue waves that appear from nowhere in the open ocean. However, the importance of this instability in the context of ocean waves is not well established. This mechanism has been successfully studied in laboratory experiments and in mathematical studies, but there is no consensus on what actually t...

Giant anomalous events may occur in systems characterized by many waves, with extremely high amplitude waves appearing with a probability much higher than expected for a random dynamics. Such rare, and giant, events are known to occur on the ocean surface and have been named, in that context, “rogue waves”. We present here some recent experimental results on the statistical properties of giant ...

According to prevailing ideas, the formation of rogue waves and the onset of wave breaking share a common physical framework: energy focusing within nonlinear wave groups. For 2D (one horizontal spatial direction) wave packet evolution, this correspondence appears to be very close. However, the situation is less clear for 3D propagation, and in the open ocean, observed breaking of dominant wind...

We discuss physical and statistical properties of rogue wave generation in deep water from the perspective of the focusing Nonlinear Schrödinger equation and some of its higher order generalizations. Numerical investigations and analytical arguments based on the inverse spectral theory of the underlying integrable model, perturbation analysis, and statistical methods provide a coherent picture ...

The nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation is a popular and relatively simple model used extensively to describe the evolution of nonlinear water-wave groups. It is often applied in relation to the appearance of extremely steep (freak, or rogue) waves in the ocean. The limits of the applicability of the NLS equation, and in particular the relevance of the model to rogue waves, are examined here o...