CAUSTICS IN 1+1 INTEGRABLE SYSTEMS

Caustics arising in the asymptotic description of rapidly decaying sol utions of the equations integrable via the inverse scattering transfor m are defined. Different asymptotic approaches to the description are considered. The appearance of members (P-2(n)) of the hierarchy of the second Painleve equation as special functions of wave catastrophies i s discussed. The ''adjoining'' problem P-2(n) --> P-2(k)(n > k) for th e simplest example P-2(2) --> P2 is considered in detail.