A second look at the Gaussian semiclassical soliton ensemble for the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation

We present the results of a numerical experiment inspired by the semiclassical (zero-dispersion) limit of the focusing nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS) equation. In particular, we focus on the Gaussian semiclassical soliton ensemble, a family of exact multisoliton solutions obtained by repeatedly solving the initial-value problem for a particular sequence of initial data. The sequence of data is generated by adding an asymptotically vanishing sequence of perturbations to pure Gaussian initial data. These perturbations are obtained by applying the inverse-scattering transform to formal WKB approximations of eigenvalues of the associated spectral problem with a Gaussian potential. Recent results [Lee, Lyng, & Vankova, Physica D 24 (2012):1767--1781] suggest that, remarkably, these perturbations---interlaced as they are with the integrable structure of the equation---do not excite the acute modulational instabilities that are known to be present in the semiclassical regime. Here, we provide additional evidence to support the claim that these WKB-induced perturbations indeed have a very special structure. In particular, as a control experiment, we examine the evolution from a family of initial data created by an asymptotically vanishing family of analytic perturbations which are qualitatively indistinguishable from the WKB-induced perturbations that generate the Gaussian semiclassical soliton ensemble. We then compare this evolution to the (numerically computed) true evolution of the Gaussian and also to the evolution of the corresponding members of the semiclassical soliton ensemble. Our results both highlight the exceptional nature of the WKB-induced perturbations used to generate the semiclassical soliton ensemble and provide new insight into the sensitivity properties of the semiclassical limit problem for the focusing NLS equation.