Mathematics for 2d Interfaces

We present here a survey of recent results concerning the mathematical analysis of instabilities of the interface between two incompressible, non viscous, fluids of constant density and vorticity concentrated on the interface. This configuration includes the so-called Kelvin-Helmholtz (the two densities are equal), Rayleigh-Taylor (two different, nonzero, densities) and the water waves (one of the densities is zero) problems. After a brief review of results concerning strong and weak solutions of the Euler equation, we derive interface equations (such as the Birkhoff-Rott equation) that describe the motion of the interface. A linear analysis allows us to exhibit the main features of these equations (such as ellipticity properties); the consequences for the full, non linear, equations are then described. In particular, the solutions of the Kelvin-Helmholtz and Rayleigh-Taylor problems are necessarily analytic if they are above a certain threshold of regularity (a consequence is the illposedness of the initial value problem in a non analytic framework). We also say a few words on the phenomena that may occur below this regularity threshold. Finally, special attention is given to the water waves problem, which is much more stable than the Kelvin-Helmholtz and Rayleigh-Taylor configurations. Most of the results presented here are in 2d (the interface has dimension one), but we give a brief description of similarities and differences in the 3d case.Comment: Survey. To appear in Panorama et Synth\`ese

Geodesic boundary value problems with symmetry

This paper shows how left and right actions of Lie groups on a manifold may be used to complement one another in a variational reformulation of optimal control problems equivalently as geodesic boundary value problems with symmetry. We prove an equivalence theorem to this effect and illustrate it with several examples. In finite-dimensions, we discuss geodesic flows on the Lie groups SO(3) and SE(3) under the left and right actions of their respective Lie algebras. In an infinite-dimensional example, we discuss optimal large-deformation matching of one closed curve to another embedded in the same plane. In the curve-matching example, the manifold \Emb(S^1, \mathbb{R}^2) comprises the space of closed curves $S^1$ embedded in the plane $\mathbb{R}^2$. The diffeomorphic left action \Diff(\mathbb{R}^2) deforms the curve by a smooth invertible time-dependent transformation of the coordinate system in which it is embedded, while leaving the parameterisation of the curve invariant. The diffeomorphic right action \Diff(S^1) corresponds to a smooth invertible reparameterisation of the $S^1$ domain coordinates of the curve. As we show, this right action unlocks an important degree of freedom for geodesically matching the curve shapes using an equivalent fixed boundary value problem, without being constrained to match corresponding points along the template and target curves at the endpoint in time.Comment: First version -- comments welcome

The Inviscid Limit and Boundary Layers for Navier-Stokes Flows

The validity of the vanishing viscosity limit, that is, whether solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations modeling viscous incompressible flows converge to solutions of the Euler equations modeling inviscid incompressible flows as viscosity approaches zero, is one of the most fundamental issues in mathematical fluid mechanics. The problem is classified into two categories: the case when the physical boundary is absent, and the case when the physical boundary is present and the effect of the boundary layer becomes significant. The aim of this article is to review recent progress on the mathematical analysis of this problem in each category.Comment: To appear in "Handbook of Mathematical Analysis in Mechanics of Viscous Fluids", Y. Giga and A. Novotn\'y Ed., Springer. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co

The variational particle-mesh method for matching curves

Diffeomorphic matching (only one of several names for this technique) is a technique for non-rigid registration of curves and surfaces in which the curve or surface is embedded in the flow of a time-series of vector fields. One seeks the flow between two topologically-equivalent curves or surfaces which minimises some metric defined on the vector fields, \emph{i.e.} the flow closest to the identity in some sense. In this paper, we describe a new particle-mesh discretisation for the evolution of the geodesic flow and the embedded shape. Particle-mesh algorithms are very natural for this problem because Lagrangian particles (particles moving with the flow) can represent the movement of the shape whereas the vector field is Eulerian and hence best represented on a static mesh. We explain the derivation of the method, and prove conservation properties: the discrete method has a set of conserved momenta corresponding to the particle-relabelling symmetry which converge to conserved quantities in the continuous problem. We also introduce a new discretisation for the geometric current matching condition of (Vaillant and Glaunes, 2005). We illustrate the method and the derived properties with numerical examples.Comment: I uploaded the wrong paper before! Here is the correct on

Statistical Equilibrium of Circulating Fluids

We are investigating the inviscid limit of the Navier-Stokes equation, and we find previously unknown anomalous terms in Hamiltonian, Dissipation, and Helicity, which survive this limit and define the turbulent statistics. We find various topologically nontrivial configurations of the confined Clebsch field responsible for vortex sheets and lines. In particular, a stable vortex sheet family is discovered, but its anomalous dissipation vanishes as $\sqrt{\nu}$. Topologically stable stationary singular flows, which we call Kelvinons, are introduced. They have a conserved velocity circulation $\Gamma_\alpha$ around the loop $C$ and another one $\Gamma_\beta$ for an infinitesimal closed loop $\tilde C$ encircling $C$, leading to a finite helicity. The anomalous dissipation has a finite limit, which we computed analytically. The Kelvinon is responsible for asymptotic PDF tails of velocity circulation, \textbf{perfectly matching numerical simulations}. The loop equation for circulation PDF as functional of the loop shape is derived and studied. This equation is \textbf{exactly} equivalent to the Schr\"odinger equation in loop space, with viscosity $\nu$ playing the role of Planck's constant. Kelvinons are fixed points of the loop equation at WKB limit $\nu \rightarrow 0$. The anomalous Hamiltonian for the Kelvinons contains a large parameter $\log \frac{|\Gamma_\beta|}{\nu}$. The leading powers of this parameter can be summed up, leading to familiar asymptotic freedom, like in QCD. In particular, the so-called multifractal scaling laws are, as in QCD, modified by the powers of the logarithm.Comment: 246 pages, 96 figures, and six appendixes. Submitted to Physics Reports. Revised the energy balance analysis and discovered asymptotic freedom leading to powers of logarithm of scale modifying K41 scaling law

Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Mathematical Foundations of Computational Anatomy (MFCA'06) - Geometrical and Statistical Methods for Modelling Biological Shape Variability

International audienceNon-linear registration and shape analysis are well developed research topic in the medical image analysis community. There is nowadays a growing number of methods that can faithfully deal with the underlying biomechanical behaviour of intra-subject shape deformations. However, it is more difficult to relate the anatomical shape of different subjects. The goal of computational anatomy is to analyse and to statistically model this specific type of geometrical information. In the absence of any justified physical model, a natural attitude is to explore very general mathematical methods, for instance diffeomorphisms. However, working with such infinite dimensional space raises some deep computational and mathematical problems. In particular, one of the key problem is to do statistics. Likewise, modelling the variability of surfaces leads to rely on shape spaces that are much more complex than for curves. To cope with these, different methodological and computational frameworks have been proposed. The goal of the workshop was to foster interactions between researchers investigating the combination of geometry and statistics for modelling biological shape variability from image and surfaces. A special emphasis was put on theoretical developments, applications and results being welcomed as illustrations. Contributions were solicited in the following areas: * Riemannian and group theoretical methods on non-linear transformation spaces * Advanced statistics on deformations and shapes * Metrics for computational anatomy * Geometry and statistics of surfaces 26 submissions of very high quality were recieved and were reviewed by two members of the programm committee. 12 papers were finally selected for oral presentations and 8 for poster presentations. 16 of these papers are published in these proceedings, and 4 papers are published in the proceedings of MICCAI'06 (for copyright reasons, only extended abstracts are provided here)