SOLITONIC ASYMPTOTICS FOR THE KORTEWEG-DE VRIES EQUATION IN THE SMALL DISPERSION LIMIT

We study the small dispersion limit for the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) equation u(t) + 6uu(x) + epsilon(2)u(xxx) = 0 in a critical scaling regime where x approaches the trailing edge of the region where the KdV solution shows oscillatory behavior. Using the Riemann-Hilbert approach, we obtain an asymptotic expansion for the KdV solution in a double scaling limit, which shows that the oscillations degenerate to sharp pulses near the trailing edge. Locally those pulses resemble soliton solutions of the KdV equation.