Subcritical and supercritical bifurcations of the first- and second-order Benney equations

The problem of the stability threshold of thin-film dynamics as described by the Benney equation of both first and second orders is revisited. The main result is that the primary Hopf bifurcation of the Benney equation of first order is supercritical for smaller values of Reynolds number and subcritical for its larger values. This result is numerically validated and further investigated analytically to reveal coexisting stable and unstable traveling waves. However, the primary bifurcation of the second-order Benney equation is supercritical for any Reynolds numbers. Sideband instability of traveling-wave regimes whose amplitude and frequency arise from the corresponding complex Ginzburg-Landau equation (CGLE) is found for the Benney equation of both first and second orders.