Away from forcing, set . For a linear sinusoidal disturbance , the reduced equation gives
Since , the phase velocity is positive for every nonzero wavenumber. The group velocity is
Thus both the linear phase and wave packet travel downstream; the sign of does not introduce an upstream branch.
Now seek a permanent nonlinear wave with , for which the propagation velocity is . Substitution gives . Integration with vanishing far-field data gives
Multiplying by and integrating again, with zero integration constant, gives
Here , because and . A smooth nonzero wave approaching zero requires : for the right-hand side is negative at sufficiently small nonzero . At the allowed positive branch has no nonzero turning point, so it cannot form a smooth localized pulse.
When , the nonzero turning point is . The energy curve is positive between and zero and negative below , giving a homoclinic negative pulse. The positive branch has no turning point and cannot return to zero. Therefore
An explicit solution, also confirming smooth exponential tails, is
This establishes the opposite propagation directions in the annular displacement equation: linear waves move downstream while its localized nonlinear depression waves move upstream.