Dynamics of localized waves with large amplitude in a weakly dispersive medium with a quadratic and positive cubic nonlinearity

The dynamics of localized waves is analyzed in the framework of a model described by the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation with account made for the cubic positive nonlinearity (the Gardner equation). In particular, the interaction process of two solitons is considered, and the dynamics of a "breathing" wave packet (a breather) is discussed. It is shown that solitons of the same polarity interact as in the case of the Korteweg-de Vries equation or modified Korteweg-de Vries equation, whereas the interaction of solitons of different polarity is qualitatively different from the classical case. An example of "unpredictable" behavior of the breather of the Gardner equation is discussed. (C) 2001 MAIK "Nauka/ Interperiodica".