Exponential mixing by orthogonal non-monotonic shears (Q2140094)

The authors study the mixing of a fluid for time-periodic laminar flows on a two-dimensional torus in the framework of measure-preserving maps. To this end shear maps are considered. These are composed of two alternating non-monotonic shear flows in perpendicular directions. The choices of the two-dimensional parameter space determine whether the flow is mixing or not. A theorem is proposed giving conditions under which the map yields exponential decay of correlations and a bound for one parameter is given. Mixing properties over open subsets are proven and exponential mixing results are demonstrated using results, previously known for billiards. Two symmetries in the parameter space are found, thus allowing the reduction of the parameter space by a factor four. Large parameter regions are identified for which elliptic islands exist and poor mixing can be observed. The authors also discuss the extension of the mixing windows and the occurrence of a non-exponential mixing rate.