Complex Ginzburg–Landau equation Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
The complex Ginzburg–Landau equation is a nonlinear complex-amplitude evolution equation with linear and cubic terms and generally complex coefficients. The driven-condensate form has gain/loss coefficients and conservative interaction/frequency coefficients . A uniform nonzero state has number density when .
A complex Ginzburg–Landau equation describes a complex number disturbance amplitude through linear amplification, advection, complex diffusion equation terms, and often cubic amplitude saturation. A constant-coefficient example is . Here real describe transport, linear growth rate and dispersive diffusion equation terms. Omitting the cubic term gives the linear complex Ginzburg-Landau equation.
The cubic amplitude saturation equation and the Picard-Lindelöf theorem imply that positive solutions cannot cross the equilibrium . If , then stays below and increases. If , then it stays above and decreases. The explicit cubic amplitude saturation solution tends to in both cases, so
The same relation makes the distance a decreasing monotone function in any spatial norm for which the plane wave has finite norm, for example on a periodic domain. At large time, .
The printed monotonicity wording must be interpreted as monotone amplitude relaxation, or monotone decay of the distance between the waves. Complex numbers have no ordinary monotone ordering, and the real part at a fixed point can oscillate. For instance, , and give , which is not monotone despite the monotone amplitude. This result concerns the common-phase single-mode family, not stability against arbitrary spatial perturbations.
Put . The shared travelling phase again cancels advection in the nonlinear Ginzburg-Landau equation; the remaining amplitude ordinary differential equation is
For , obeys the logistic differential equation . Equivalently, solves , whence . The nonconstant cubic amplitude saturation solution is
It takes the specified at . The denominator of the cubic amplitude saturation solution remains positive for all future time: if its bracket exceeds one, and if it lies between and one. Thus the positive solution is global forward in time. would give the excluded constant solution; would remain at zero rather than relax to the positive wave.
When , the ratio of cubic damping to linear amplification is . The cubic amplitude saturation equation therefore gives
while the small-amplitude regime lasts. With , the matching real-wavenumber normal mode of the linear complex Ginzburg-Landau equation has and hence amplitude proportional to . Thus
This is the temporal growth rate of the same Fourier component. It is not the fixed-position absolute frequency rate of a localized impulse. Nonlinear damping becomes important when is comparable with and then arrests exponential amplification.