Axisymmetric inertial modes in a spherical shell at low Ekman numbers

We investigate the asymptotic properties of axisymmetric inertial modes propagating in a spherical shell when viscosity tends to zero. We identify three kinds of eigenmodes whose eigenvalues follow very different laws as the Ekman number $E$ becomes very small. First are modes associated with attractors of characteristics that are made of thin shear layers closely following the periodic orbit traced by the characteristic attractor. Second are modes made of shear layers that connect the critical latitude singularities of the two hemispheres of the inner boundary of the spherical shell. Third are quasi-regular modes associated with the frequency of neutral periodic orbits of characteristics. We thoroughly analyse a subset of attractor modes for which numerical solutions point to an asymptotic law governing the eigenvalues. We show that three length scales proportional to $E^{1/6}$, $E^{1/4}$ and $E^{1/3}$ control the shape of the shear layers that are associated with these modes. These scales point out the key role of the small parameter $E^{1/12}$ in these oscillatory flows. With a simplified model of the viscous Poincar\'e equation, we can give an approximate analytical formula that reproduces the velocity field in such shear layers. Finally, we also present an analysis of the quasi-regular modes whose frequencies are close to $\sin(\pi/4)$ and explain why a fluid inside a spherical shell cannot respond to any periodic forcing at this frequency when viscosity vanishes.Comment: 38 pages, 25 figures, to appear in J. Fluid Mechanic

Convergence and round-off errors in a two-dimensional eigenvalue problem using spectral methods and Arnoldi-Chebyshev algorithm

An efficient way of solving 2D stability problems in fluid mechanics is to use, after discretization of the equations that cast the problem in the form of a generalized eigenvalue problem, the incomplete Arnoldi-Chebyshev method. This method preserves the banded structure sparsity of matrices of the algebraic eigenvalue problem and thus decreases memory use and CPU-time consumption. The errors that affect computed eigenvalues and eigenvectors are due to the truncation in the discretization and to finite precision in the computation of the discretized problem. In this paper we analyze those two errors and the interplay between them. We use as a test case the two-dimensional eigenvalue problem yielded by the computation of inertial modes in a spherical shell. This problem contains many difficulties that make it a very good test case. It turns out that that single modes (especially most-damped modes i.e. with high spatial frequency) can be very sensitive to round-off errors, even when apparently good spectral convergence is achieved. The influence of round-off errors is analyzed using the spectral portrait technique and by comparison of double precision and extended precision computations. Through the analysis we give practical recipes to control the truncation and round-off errors on eigenvalues and eigenvectors.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Compressible MHD in spherical geometry.

none2L. Valdettaro;M. MeneguzziValdettaro, Lorenzo; M., Meneguzz

Consequences of Rotation In Energetics of Accretion Disks

A synthesis on recent results about rotating turbulence is done. They prove that rotation tends to inhibit energy transfer from large scales to small scales because of the generation of strong inertial waves aligned with the rotation axis. Implications on the theory of turbulent transport in accretion disks are discussed. It is argued that the concept of turbulent viscosity should be revisited to take into account the possibility of non-local transport by large scale wave-dominated turbulence. An "energetic puzzle" resulting from a possible inverse cascade of energy is brought out. Various solutions to solve it are suggested and are linked to currently available observations. New prescriptions for turbulent dissipation in the presence of rotation or large scale waves are given. Special emphasis is put on compressibility effects, for which a detailed analysis of dissipation processes is provided and translated in term of turbulent viscosities. When the turbulence is strongly influenced by the rotation, most of the energy is transported by sonic waves. The corresponding turbulent viscosity is computed numerically for several types of disks. A universal model for thin accretion disks is suggested in relation with the results

Large Eddy Simulation of gravity currents with a high order DG method

This work deals with Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) and Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of a turbulent gravity current in a gas, performed by means of a Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) Finite Elements method employing, in the LES case, LES-DG turbulence models previously introduced by the authors. Numerical simulations of non-Boussinesq lock-exchange benchmark problems show that, in the DNS case, the proposed method allows to correctly reproduce relevant features of variable density gas ows with gravity. Moreover, the LES results highlight, also in this context, the excessively high dissipation of the Smagorinsky model with respect to the Germano dynamic procedure