Waves that appear from nowhere and disappear without a trace

The title (WANDT) can be applied to two objects: rogue waves in the ocean and rational solutions of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE). There is a hierarchy of rational solutions of 'focussing' NLSE with increasing order and with progressively increasing amplitude. As the equation can be applied to waves in the deep ocean, the solutions can describe rogue waves with virtually infinite amplitude. They can appear from smooth initial conditions that are only slightly perturbed in a special way, and are given by our exact solutions. Thus, a slight perturbation on the ocean surface can dramatically increase the amplitude of the singular wave event that appears as a result. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.