Benjamin-Ono model of an internal wave under a flat surface

Abstract

A two-layer fluid system separated by a pycnocline in the form of an internal wave is considered. The lower layer is infinitely deep, with a higher density than the upper layer which is bounded above by a flat surface. The fluids are incompressible and inviscid. A Hamiltonian formulation for the fluid dynamics is presented and it is shown that an appropriate scaling leads to the integrable Benjamin-Ono equation.