Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book develops the theory, design and application of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) soliton on the nonlinear transmission line (NLTL). The KdV soliton can be found in many other areas such as plasma, hydrodynamics, and mechanical spring-mass systems and many of the concepts developed in the context of NLTL KdV solitons are applicable. The book provides the three canonical solitons to place the KdV soliton in perspective: Korteweg-de Vries soliton, Nonlinear Schrodinger envelope soliton and Sine-Gordon kink soliton. The ability of solitons to undergo nonlinear interaction and re-emerge undisturbed provides a glimpse of the underlying beauty of their dynamics. The book explores in detail the deep, underlying mathematics of solitons that is responsible for their unique behavior. It provides a brief history of the soliton from its discovery to its modern implementation in electronics.