DOI: 10.1119/1.17120 ISSN:
Solitary wave solutions of nonlinear wave equations
W. Malfliet- General Physics and Astronomy
A method is proposed for obtaining traveling-wave solutions of nonlinear wave equations that are essentially of a localized nature. It is based on the fact that most solutions are functions of a hyperbolic tangent. This technique is straightforward to use and only minimal algebra is needed to find these solutions. The method is applied to selected cases.