  This thesis deals with mathematical and physical aspects of deterministic
freak wave generation in a hydrodynamic laboratory. We adopt the nonlinear
Schr\"odinger (NLS) equation as a mathematical model for the evolution of the
surface gravity wave packet envelopes. As predicted theoretically and observed
experimentally by Benjamin and Feir (1967), Stokes waves on deep water are
unstable under a sideband modulation. The plane-wave solution of the NLS
equation, which represents the fundamental component of the Stokes wave,
experiences a similar modulational instability under the linear perturbation
theory. A nonlinear extension for this perturbed wave is given by the family of
Soliton on Finite Background (SFB), where an exact expression is available and
can be derived analytically by several techniques. We discuss the
characteristics of the SFB family as a prime candidate for freak wave events.
The corresponding physical wave field exhibits intriguing phenomena of
wavefront dislocation and phase singularity.
