Inverse scattering transform for the focusing Hirota equation with asymmetric boundary conditions

Abstract

We formulate an inverse scattering transformation for the focusing Hirota equation with asymmetric boundary conditions, which means that the limit values of the solution at spatial infinities have different amplitudes. For the direct problem, we do not use Riemann surfaces, but instead analyze the branching properties of the scattering problem eigenvalues. The Jost eigenfunctions and scattering coefficients are defined as single-valued functions on the complex plane, and their analyticity properties, symmetries, and asymptotics are obtained, which are helpful in constructing the corresponding Riemann–Hilbert problem. On an open contour, the inverse problem is described by a Riemann–Hilbert problem with double poles. Finally, for comparison purposes, we consider the initial value problem with one-sided nonzero boundary conditions and obtain the formulation of the inverse scattering transform by using Riemann surfaces.