Integral Asymptotics, Coalescing Saddles, and Multiple-scales Analysis of a Generalised Swift-Hohenberg Equation

Abstract

Integral asymptotics play an important role in the analysis of differential equations and in a variety of other settings. In this work, we apply an integral asymptotics approach to study spatially localized solutions of a heterogeneous generalised Swift-Hohenberg equation. The outer solution is obtained via WKBJ asymptotics, while the inner solution requires the method of coalescing saddles. We modify the classic method of Chester et al. to account for additional technicalities, such as complex branch selection and local transformation to a cubic polynomial. By integrating our results, we construct an approximate global solution to the generalised Swift-Hohenberg problem and validate it against numerical contour integral solutions. We also demonstrate an alternative approach that circumvents the complexity of integral asymptotics by analyzing the original differential equation directly through a multiple-scales analysis and show that this generates the same leading-order inner solution obtained using the coalescing saddles method at least for one of the cases considered via integral asymptotics. Our findings reinforce the significance of integral asymptotics in approximating the fourth order differential equations found in the linear stability analysis for generalisations of the Swift Hohenberg equations. This study has also highlighted a conjecture that, in certain cases, the method of coalescing saddles can be systematically replaced by multiple-scales analysis using an intermediary differential equation, a hypothesis for future investigation.