When is a Stokes line not a Stokes line?

Abstract

During the course of a Stokes phenomenon, an asymptotic expansion can change its form as a further series, prefactored by an exponentially small term and a Stokes multiplier, appears in the representation. The initially exponentially small contribution may nevertheless grow to dominate the behaviour for other values of the asymptotic or associated parameters.

We introduce the concept of a higher order Stokes phenomenon, at which a Stokes multiplier itself can change value. We show that the higher order Stokes phenomenon can be used to explain the apparent sudden birth of Stokes lines at regular points, why some Stokes lines are irrelevant to a given problem and why it is indispensible to the proper derivation of expansions that involve three or more possible asymptotic contributions. We provide an example of how the higher order Stokes phenomenon can have important effects on the large time behaviour of linear partial differential equations.

Subsequently we apply these techniques to Burgers equation, a non-linear partial differential equation developed to model turbulent fluid flow. We find that the higher order Stokes phenomenon plays a major, yet very subtle role in the smoothed shock wave formation of this equation.

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ORCID for C.J. Howls: orcid.org/0000-0001-7989-7807

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