Summary.
Considered herein are a number of variants of the classical Boussinesq system and their higher-order generalizations. Such equations were first derived by Boussinesq to describe the two-way propagation of small-amplitude, long wavelength, gravity waves on the surface of water in a canal. These systems arise also when modeling the propagation of long-crested waves on large lakes or the ocean and in other contexts. Depending on the modeling of dispersion, the resulting system may or may not have a linearization about the rest state which is well posed. Even when well posed, the linearized system may exhibit a lack of conservation of energy that is at odds with its status as an approximation to the Euler equations. In the present script, we derive a four-parameter family of Boussinesq systems from the two-dimensional Euler equations for free-surface flow and formulate criteria to help decide which of these equations one might choose in a given modeling situation. The analysis of the systems according to these criteria is initiated.
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Bona, Chen & Saut Boussinesq Equations and Other Systems for Small-Amplitude Long Waves in Nonlinear Dispersive Media. I: Derivation and Linear Theory . J. Nonlinear Sci. 12, 283–318 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00332-002-0466-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00332-002-0466-4