Propagation of dark solitons of DNLS equations along a large-scale background

We study dynamics of dark solitons in the theory of the derivative nonlinear Schrödinger equations by the method based on imposing the condition that this dynamics must be Hamiltonian. Combining this condition with Stokes’ remark that relationships for harmonic linear waves and small-amplitude soliton tails satisfy the same linearized equations, so the corresponding solutions can be converted one into the other by replacement of the packet’s wave number k by iκ, κ being the soliton’s inverse half-width, we find the Hamiltonian and the canonical momentum of the soliton’s motion. The Hamilton equations are reduced to the Newton equation whose solutions for some typical situations are compared with exact numerical solutions of the Kaup-Newell DNLS equation. •Hamiltonian and canonical momentum for DNLS soliton motion equation are obtained.•Newton equation is derived.•The theory is illustrated by several examples.•The theory is compared with exact numerical solutions.