title: Experimental observation of dark solitons on the surface of water.
abstract: We present the first ever observation of dark solitons on the surface of water. It takes the form of an amplitude drop of the carrier wave which does not change shape in propagation. The shape and width of the soliton depend on the water depth, carrier frequency, and the amplitude of the background wave. The experimental data taken in a water tank show an excellent agreement with the theory. These results may improve our understanding of the nonlinear dynamics of water waves at finite depths.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom and Mechanics and Ocean Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chabchoub
authors.affiliation: École Centrale Marseille, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kimmoun
authors.affiliation: IRPHE, UMR 7342, CNRS, AMU Aix Marseille Université, 13013 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Branger
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom and Mechanics and Ocean Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, 21073 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: School of Mathematics, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Proment
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy and Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, INFN Sezione di Torino, 10125 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onorato
authors.affiliation: Optical Sciences Group, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Institute of Advanced Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Akhmediev
mesh_terms: D008962:Models, Theoretical; D013499:Surface Properties; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*; D014872:Water Movements
chemical_list: D014867:Water