Dispersive shock waves and modulation theory

There is growing physical and mathematical interest in the hydrodynamics of dissipationless/dispersive media. Since G. B. Whitham’s seminal publication fifty years ago that ushered in the mathematical study of dispersive hydrodynamics, there has been a significant body of work in this area. However, there has been no comprehensive survey of the field of dispersive hydrodynamics. Utilizing Whitham’s averaging theory as the primary mathematical tool, we review the rich mathematical developments over the past fifty years with an emphasis on physical applications. The fundamental, large scale, coherent excitation in dispersive hydrodynamic systems is an expanding, oscillatory dispersive shock wave or DSW. Both the macroscopic and microscopic properties of DSWs are analyzed in detail within the context of the universal, integrable, and foundational models for uni-directional (Korteweg–de Vries equation) and bi-directional (Nonlinear Schrödinger equation) dispersive hydrodynamics. A DSW fitting procedure that does not rely upon integrable structure yet reveals important macroscopic DSW properties is described. DSW theory is then applied to a number of physical applications: superfluids, nonlinear optics, geophysics, and fluid dynamics. Finally, we survey some of the more recent developments including non-classical DSWs, DSW interactions, DSWs in perturbed and inhomogeneous environments, and two-dimensional, oblique DSWs

Nonlinear modulational stability of periodic traveling-wave solutions of the generalized Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

In this paper we consider the spectral and nonlinear stability of periodic traveling wave solutions of a generalized Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation. In particular, we resolve the long-standing question of nonlinear modulational stability by demonstrating that spectrally stable waves are nonlinearly stable when subject to small localized (integrable) perturbations. Our analysis is based upon detailed estimates of the linearized solution operator, which are complicated by the fact that the (necessarily essential) spectrum of the associated linearization intersects the imaginary axis at the origin. We carry out a numerical Evans function study of the spectral problem and find bands of spectrally stable periodic traveling waves, in close agreement with previous numerical studies of Frisch-She-Thual, Bar-Nepomnyashchy, Chang-Demekhin-Kopelevich, and others carried out by other techniques. We also compare predictions of the associated Whitham modulation equations, which formally describe the dynamics of weak large scale perturbations of a periodic wave train, with numerical time evolution studies, demonstrating their effectiveness at a practical level. For the reader's convenience, we include in an appendix the corresponding treatment of the Swift-Hohenberg equation, a nonconservative counterpart of the generalized Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation for which the nonlinear stability analysis is considerably simpler, together with numerical Evans function analyses extending spectral stability analyses of Mielke and Schneider.Comment: 78 pages, 11 figure

Mathematical Theory of Water Waves

Water waves, that is waves on the surface of a fluid (or the interface between different fluids) are omnipresent phenomena. However, as Feynman wrote in his lecture, water waves that are easily seen by everyone, and which are usually used as an example of waves in elementary courses, are the worst possible example; they have all the complications that waves can have. These complications make mathematical investigations particularly challenging and the physics particularly rich. Indeed, expertise gained in modelling, mathematical analysis and numerical simulation of water waves can be expected to lead to progress in issues of high societal impact (renewable energies in marine environments, vorticity generation and wave breaking, macro-vortices and coastal erosion, ocean shipping and near-shore navigation, tsunamis and hurricane-generated waves, floating airports, ice-sea interactions, ferrofluids in high-technology applications, ...). The workshop was mostly devoted to rigorous mathematical theory for the exact hydrodynamic equations; numerical simulations, modelling and experimental issues were included insofar as they had an evident synergy effect

Multidimensional stability and transverse bifurcation of hydraulic shocks and roll waves in open channel flow

We study by a combination of analytical and numerical methods multidimensional stability and transverse bifurcation of planar hydraulic shock and roll wave solutions of the inviscid Saint Venant equations for inclined shallow-water flow, both in the whole space and in a channel of finite width, obtaining complete stability diagrams across the full parameter range of existence. Technical advances include development of efficient multi-d Evans solvers, low- and high-frequency asymptotics, explicit/semi-explicit computation of stability boundaries, and rigorous treatment of channel flow with wall-type physical boundary. Notable behavioral phenomena are a novel essential transverse bifurcation of hydraulic shocks to invading planar periodic roll-wave or doubly-transverse periodic herringbone patterns, with associated metastable behavior driven by mixed roll- and herringbone-type waves initiating from localized perturbation of an unstable constant state; and Floquet-type transverse ``flapping'' bifurcation of roll wave patterns.Comment: 99 page

Stability of Viscous St. Venant Roll-Waves: From Onset to the Infinite-Froude Number Limit

International audienceWe study the spectral stability of roll-wave solutions of the viscous St. Venant equationsmodeling inclined shallow-water flow, both at onset in the small-Froude number or “weakly unstable”limit F → 2+ and for general values of the Froude number F , including the limit F → +∞. In the former,F → 2+ , limit, the shallow water equations are formally approximated by a Korteweg de Vries/Kuramoto-Sivashinsky (KdV-KS) equation that is a singular perturbation of the standard Korteweg de Vries (KdV)equation modeling horizontal shallow water flow. Our main analytical result is to rigorously validate thisformal limit, showing that stability as F → 2+ is equivalent to stability of the corresponding KdV-KSwaves in the KdV limit. Together with recent results obtained for KdV-KS by Johnson–Noble–Rodrigues–Zumbrun and Barker, this gives not only the first rigorous verification of stability for any single viscous St.Venant roll wave, but a complete classification of stability in the weakly unstable limit. In the remainderof the paper, we investigate numerically and analytically the evolution of the stability diagram as Froudenumber increases to infinity. Notably, we find transition at around F = 2.3 from weakly unstable todifferent, large-F behavior, with stability determined by simple power law relations. The latter stabilitycriteria are potentially useful in hydraulic engineering applications, for which typically 2.5 ≤ F ≤ 6.0

Symmetries of Nonlinear PDEs on Metric Graphs and Branched Networks

This Special Issue focuses on recent progress in a new area of mathematical physics and applied analysis, namely, on nonlinear partial differential equations on metric graphs and branched networks. Graphs represent a system of edges connected at one or more branching points (vertices). The connection rule determines the graph topology. When the edges can be assigned a length and the wave functions on the edges are defined in metric spaces, the graph is called a metric graph. Evolution equations on metric graphs have attracted much attention as effective tools for the modeling of particle and wave dynamics in branched structures and networks. Since branched structures and networks appear in different areas of contemporary physics with many applications in electronics, biology, material science, and nanotechnology, the development of effective modeling tools is important for the many practical problems arising in these areas. The list of important problems includes searches for standing waves, exploring of their properties (e.g., stability and asymptotic behavior), and scattering dynamics. This Special Issue is a representative sample of the works devoted to the solutions of these and other problems

2009 program of studies : nonlinear waves

The fiftieth year of the program was dedicated to Nonlinear Waves, a topic with many applications in geophysical fluid dynamics. The principal lectures were given jointly by Roger Grimshaw and Harvey Segur and between them they covered material drawn from fundamental theory, fluid experiments, asymptotics, and reaching all the way to detailed applications. These lectures set the scene for the rest of the summer, with subsequent daily lectures by staff and visitors on a wide range of topics in GFD. It was a challenge for the fellows and lecturers to provide a consistent set of lecture notes for such a wide-ranging lecture course, but not least due to the valiant efforts of Pascale Garaud, who coordinated the write-up and proof-read all the notes, we are very pleased with the final outcome contained in these pages. This year’s group of eleven international GFD fellows was as diverse as one could get in terms of gender, origin, and race, but all were unified in their desire to apply their fundamental knowledge of fluid dynamics to challenging problems in the real world. Their projects covered a huge range of physical topics and at the end of the summer each student presented his or her work in a one-hour lecture. As always, these projects are the heart of the research and education aspects of our summer study.Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation through Grant No. OCE-0824636 and the Office of Naval Research under Contract No. N00014-09-10844

Generalized Riemann Problems In Dispersive Hydrodynamics

Nonlinear, dispersive wave phenomena occur in a variety of physical contexts, both in nature and the laboratory. Mathematically, their dynamics can be modeled by a dispersive hydrodynamic system---a first order system of conservation laws modified by dispersion. In appropriate physical regimes, a multi-scale asymptotic expansion can by employed to derive a scalar equation from which we can infer approximate dynamics of the overarching system. We first study scalar models of dispersive hydrodynamics when dispersion is of higher order. Higher order dispersion in nonlinear, real-valued, local scalar equations can manifest when spatial derivatives are higher than third order. The primary mathematical framework we utilize is Whitham modulation theory, an asymptotic method to describe the slow modulations of a periodic wave's parameters. We identify three new classes of DSWs solutions to the Kawahara equation---a weakly nonlinear model that contains both third and fifth order dispersive terms. Numerical and asymptotic studies of the DSW solutions to the Kawahara equation motivate a further comprehensive study of the Whitham modulation equations for the fifth order Korteweg-de Vries (KdV5) equation. We compute various heteroclinic traveling waves that are shown to correspond to weak, discontinuous shock solutions of the KdV5-Whitham modulation system in the zero dispersion limit. The discontinuous shock solutions are shown to arise from a so-called generalized Riemann problem. The existence of heteroclinic traveling waves of the governing equation allow us to define the admissibility of discontinuous, weak solutions of the Whitham modulation equations, which we term Whitham shocks. Furthermore, the structure of the modulation equations, e.g. hyperbolicity or ellipticity, determine the modulational (in)stability of the heteroclinic traveling wave corresponding to an admissible Whitham shock. We then revisit the DSW solution of the KdV5 equation and demonstrate that it can be described in terms of a shock-rarefaction solution of the KdV5-Whitham modulation system. We conclude this portion with a discussion of how our results can be applied to other model dispersive hydrodynamic systems. We then investigate the interaction of a soliton and an evolving mean flow in bi-directional dispersive hydrodynamic media. The model equation is the defocusing nonlinear Schr&ouml;dinger equation. Utilizing Whitham modulation theory and posing a generalized Riemann problem for an initial jump in the mean flow and the soliton amplitude, a simple wave solution of the diagonalized NLS-Whitham modulation equations is obtained. This yields algebraic relationships between far-field initial data and the solitary wave amplitude from which we may infer the long-time soliton dynamics including the hydrodynamic trapping or transmission of the soliton by a, possibly, oscillatory mean flow.</p

Review of fluid flow and convective heat transfer within rotating disk cavities with impinging jet

International audienceFluid flow and convective heat transfer in rotor-stator configurations, which are of great importance in different engineering applications, are treated in details in this review. The review focuses on convective heat transfer in predominantly outward air flow in the rotor-stator geometries with and without impinging jets and incorporates two main parts, namely, experimental / theoretical methodologies and geometries/results. Experimental methodologies include naphthalene sublimation techniques, steadystate (thin layer) and transient (thermochromic liquid crystals) thermal measurements, thermocouples and infra-red cameras, hot-wire anemometry, laser Doppler and particle image velocimetry, laser plane and smoke generator. Theoretical approaches incorporate modern CFD computational tools (DNS, LES, RANS etc). Geometries and results part being mentioned starting from simple to complex elucidates cases of a free rotating disk, a single disk in the crossflow, single jets impinging onto stationary and rotating disk, rotor-stator systems without and with impinging single jets, as well as multiple jets. Conclusions to the review outline perspectives of the further extension of the investigations of different kinds of the rotor-stator systems and their applications in engineering practice