Petrov-Galerkin finite element method for solving the MRLW equation

Abstract In this article, a Petrov-Galerkin method, in which the element shape functions are cubic and weight functions are quadratic B-splines, is introduced to solve the modified regularized long wave (MRLW) equation. The solitary wave motion, interaction of two and three solitary waves, and development of the Maxwellian initial condition into solitary waves are studied using the proposed method. Accuracy and efficiency of the method are demonstrated by computing the numerical conserved laws and L 2, L ∞ error norms. The computed results show that the present scheme is a successful numerical technique for solving the MRLW equation. A linear stability analysis based on the Fourier method is also investigated.