title: On Hokusai'sGreat wave off Kanagawa: localization, linearity and a rogue wave in sub-Antarctic waters.
abstract: The Hokusai woodcut entitledThe great wave off Kanagawahas been interpreted as an unusually large storm wave, likely to be classed as a rogue wave, and possibly generated from nonlinear wave dynamics (J. H. E. Cartwright and H. Nakamura,Notes Rec. R. Soc.63, 119-135 (2009)). In this paper, we present a complementary discussion of this hypothesis, discussing in particular how linear and nonlinear mechanisms can both contribute to the emergence of rogue wave events. By making reference to theGreat wave's simultaneous transverse and longitudinal localization, we show that the purely linear mechanism of directional focusing also predicts characteristics consistent with those of theGreat wave. In addition, we discuss the properties of a particular rogue wave photographed on the open ocean in sub-Antarctic waters, which shows two-dimensional localization and breaking dynamics remarkably similar to Hokusai's depiction in the woodcut.
authors.affiliation: Institut FEMTO-ST, UMR 6174 CNRS-Université de Franche-Comté, 25000 Besançon, France.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.affiliation: Association Longitude 181 Nature, 12 rue la Fontaine, 26000 Valence, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sarano
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematical Sciences, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dias
keywords: Great wave of Kanagawa; Hokusai; rogue waves; wave breaking