Etymology: f. solitary a. + -on[1].

A solitary wave (see solitary a. 1 e); a quantum or quasiparticle propagated in the manner of a solitary wave.

• 1965 Zabusky & Kruskal in Physical Rev. Lett. XV. 240/1 - Each such `solitary-wave pulse' or `soliton' begins to move uniformly at a rate..which is linearly proportional to its amplitude.
• 1967 Zabusky & Kruskal in Physical Rev. Lett. XIX. 1096/1 - The solitons exhibit a remarkable stability in that their identity is preserved through nonlinear interactions. This property of solitons..was discovered numerically and justifies the name suggestive of particles.
• 1968 Trans. Amer. Geophysical Union XLIX. 209/2 - Steep waves in shallow water have nonlinear properties similar to those exhibited by interacting `solitons', nonlinear dispersive wave entities that arise in solutions of the Korteweg-de-Vries..equation.
• 1976 [see solitary wave s.v. solitary a. 1 e].
• 1979 Physica Scripta XX. 306/1 - Solitons appear in many fields of our life ranging from classical fluids, solid state and elementary particle physics to biophysics.