Dynamics of solitons in a nonintegrable version of the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation

Nonlinear wave dynamics is discussed using the extended modified Korteweg-de Vries equation that includes the combination of the third- and fifth-order terms and is valid for waves in a three-layer fluid with so-called symmetric stratification. The derived equation has solutions in the form of solitary waves of various polarities. At small amplitudes, they are close to solitons of the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation. However, the height of large-amplitude solutions has a limit approaching which solitary waves widen and acquire a table like shape similar to soluitons of the Gardner equation. Numerical calculations confirm that the collision of solitons of the derived equation is inelastic. Inelasticity is the most pronounced in the interaction of unipolar pulses. The direction of the shift of the phase of the higher-amplitude soliton owing to the interaction of solitons of different polarities depends on the amplitudes of the pulses.