Expanding the exponential for gives . Substitution of the plane wave in the model gives
which is exactly the quadratic approximation to the dispersion relation.
For the slowly varying width, put and use the WKB approximation
The derivatives are
At leading order . On the downstream small-wavenumber branch write
so is independent of . The next order gives the slowly varying triangular-jet envelope transport equation
Integration therefore yields
Indeed, . The requested power is the leading low-frequency envelope, not the exact finite-frequency exponent of the quadratic model. The corresponding leading field is this wave envelope times . Positive slowly varying width and separation from the zero of the local group velocity, , are needed for this WKB approximation. Extremely large can also invalidate replacing the exact exponent by .