On the stability of waves in classically neutral flows

DOI10.1093/IMAMAT/HXAA007MaRDI QIDQ3296487zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Colin M. Huber, Meaghan Hoitt, N. S. Barlow, Kimberlee Keithley, S. J. Weinstein

Publication date 7 July 2020

Published in IMA Journal of Applied Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1905.09278

zbMATH Keywords

Fourier integralinclined-plane flowlong-time asymptoticsneutral stabilitynon-modal instability

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Water waves, gravity waves; dispersion and scattering, nonlinear interaction (76B15) Interfacial stability and instability in hydrodynamic stability (76E17) Asymptotic methods, singular perturbations applied to problems in fluid mechanics (76M45)

Abstract: This paper reports a breakdown in linear stability theory under conditions of neutral stability that is deduced by an examination of exponential modes of the form $happrox{e}^{i(kx-omegat)}$, where $h$ is a response to a disturbance, $k$ is a real wavenumber, and $omega(k)$ is a wavelength-dependent complex frequency. In a previous paper, King et al (Stability of algebraically unstable dispersive flows, extit{Phys. Rev. Fluids}, 1(073604), 2016) demonstrates that when Im$[omega(k)]$=0 for all $k$, it is possible for a system response to grow or damp algebraically as $happrox{t}^s$ where $s$ is a fractional power. The growth is deduced through an asymptotic analysis of the Fourier integral that inherently invokes the superposition of an infinite number of modes. In this paper, the more typical case associated with the transition from stability to instability is examined in which Im$[omega(k)]$=0 for a single mode (i.e., for one value of $k$) at neutral stability. Two partial differential equation systems are examined, one that has been constructed to elucidate key features of the stability threshold, and a second that models the well-studied problem of rectilinear Newtonian flow down an inclined plane. In both cases, algebraic growth/decay is deduced at the neutral stability boundary, and the propagation features of the responses are examined.

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(2)

• On the two-dimensional extension of one-dimensional algebraically growing waves at neutral stability
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1062962 (Why is no real title available?)

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