The linear and nonlinear instability of the Akhmediev breather

The Akhmediev breather (AB) and its M-soliton generalization $AB_M$ are exact solutions of the focusing NLS equation periodic in space and exponentially localized in time over the constant unstable background; they describe the appearance of $M$ unstable nonlinear modes and their interaction, and they are expected to play a relevant role in the theory of periodic anomalous (rogue) waves (AWs) in nature. It is rather well established that they are unstable with respect to small perturbations of the NLS equation. Concerning perturbations of these solutions within the NLS dynamics, there is the following common believe in the literature. Let the NLS background be unstable with respect to the first $N$ modes; then i) if the $M$ unstable modes of the $AB_M$ solution are strictly contained in this set ($M1$.