A numerical study of compactons

The Korteweg-de Vries equation has been generalized by Rosenau and Hyman [Compactons: Solitons with finite wavelength, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70(5) (1993) 564] to a class of partial differential equations that has soliton solutions with compact support (compactons). Compactons are solitary waves with the remarkable soliton property that after colliding with other compactons, they re-emerge with the same coherent shape [Rosenau and Hyman, Compactons: Solitons with finite wave length, Phys. Rev. Lett. 70(5) (1993) 564]. In this paper finite difference and finite element methods have been developed to study these types of equations. The analytical solutions and conserved quantities are used to assess the accuracy of these methods. A single compacton as well as the interaction of compactons have been studied. The numerical results have shown that these compactons exhibit true soliton behavior. (C) 1998 IMACS/Elsevier Science B.V.