We prove that the profile of a periodic traveling wave propagating at the surface of water above a flat bed in a flow with a real analytic vorticity must be real analytic, provided the wave speed exceeds the horizontal fluid velocity throughout the flow. The real analyticity of each streamline beneath the free surface holds even if the vorticity is only Hölder continuously differentiable.
Abstract. Analyzing a free boundary problem for harmonic functions in an infinite planar domain, we prove that in a solitary water wave each particle is transported in the wave direction but slower than the wave speed. As the solitary wave propagates, all particles located ahead of the wave crest are lifted, while those behind it experience a downward motion, with the particle trajectory having asymptotically the same height above the flat bed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.