On Lyapunov's method in the theory of stability of laminar fluid flows (Q789279)

Consider the plane laminar flow between two parallel plates. The linearized equations yield the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for the eigen values, whose sign determine the stability of the flow. However the study of the time evolution of the kinetic energy is valid for the general nonlinear equations also. By using the Lyapunov criterion for stability, it is established that in the linear case the eigen value method and the energy method are equivalent with respect to stability. Further the admissibility of the linearization procedure is established when the initial disturbances are sufficiently small.