Experiments on nonlinear cross waves

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Abstract
Surface water waves are generated by a paddle‐type wavemaker operating at one end of a long tank. In addition to a progressing wave field at the forcing frequency, a subharmonic cross wave is generated in the neighborhood of the wavemaker. At lower forcing amplitudes there is a Benjamin–Feir instability of the progressing wave. At large forcing amplitudes, the fundamental decays rapidly along the channel. The cross wave dominates the near field and is strongly modulated on a slow time scale. During each modulation period a soliton propagates away from the wavemaker. The near‐field standing cross wave undergoes a transformation into a progressing wave in the far field.

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