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Wave evolution within the cubic vortical Whitham equation
In this work, we study the evolution of disturbances within the framework of the Cubic Vortical
Whitham (CV-Whitham) equation, considering both positive and negative cubic nonlinearities.
This equation plays important role for description of the wave processes in the presence of shear
flows. We find well-formed breather-type structures arising from the evolution of depression
disturbances with positive cubic nonlinearity. For elevation disturbances, the results are twofold.
When the cubic nonlinearity is negative, we show that the CV-Whitham equation and the
Gardner equation are qualitatively similar, differing only by a small phase lag due to differences
in the dispersion term. However, with positive cubic nonlinearity, the differences between the
solutions become more pronounced, with the CV-Whitham equation producing sharper waves
that suggest the onset of wave breaking.