The Kadomtsev-Petviashvili II Equation on the Half-Plane

D. Mantzavinos, A. S. Fokas

Published 2010-06-02, updated 2010-10-05Version 2

The KPII equation is an integrable nonlinear PDE in 2+1 dimensions (two spatial and one temporal), which arises in several physical circumstances, including fluid mechanics where it describes waves in shallow water. It provides a multidimensional generalisation of the renowned KdV equation. In this work, we employ a novel approach recently introduced by one of the authors in connection with the Davey-Stewartson equation \cite{FDS2009}, in order to analyse the initial-boundary value problem for the KPII equation formulated on the half-plane. The analysis makes crucial use of the so-called d-bar formalism, as well as of the so-called global relation. A novel feature of boundary as opposed to initial-value problems in 2+1 is that the d-bar formalism now involves a function in the complex plane which is discontinuous across the real axis.