Approximate-analytic optical soliton solutions of a modified-Gerdjikov–Ivanov equation: modulation instability

Abstract The Gerdjikov–Ivanov equation (GIE) occupied a remarkable area of research in the literature. In the present work, a modified GIE (MGIE) is considered which is new and was not studied in the literature. Also, the modified-unified method (MUM) is used to obtain approximate analytic solutions (AASs) of MGIE. Up to our knowledge, no AASs for non-integrable complex field equation were found up to now. Thus the AASs found, here, are novel. The UM addresses finding the exact solutions to integrable equations. In this sense as no exact solution for MGIE exists, consequently, it is not integrable. So, here, approximate analytic optical soliton solutions are invoked. The UM stands for expressing the solution of nonlinear evolution equations in polynomial and rational forms in an auxiliary function (AF) with an appropriate auxiliary equation. For finding exact solutions by the UM, the coefficients of the AF, with all powers, are set equal to zero, For a non-integrable equation, only approximate solutions are affordable. In this case, we are led to utilizing the MUM. Herein, non-zero coefficients (residue terms (RTs)) are considered as errors, which are space and time-independent. It is worth mentioning that, this is in contrast to the errors found by the different numerical methods, where they are space and time-dependent. Further, in the present case, the maximum error is controlled via an adequate choice of the parameters in the RTs. These solutions are displayed in graphs. Breather soliton, chirped soliton and M-shape soliton, among others, are observed. Furthermore, modulation instability (MI) is studied and it is found MI triggers when the coefficient of the nonlinear dispersion exceeds a critical value.