How do CPT-like symmetries shape the stability of geophysical flows?
Abstract
We examine the role discrete symmetries, time-reversal and mirror symmetries, play in the context of geophysical waves and instabilities. By looking at three special cases from the two-layer quasi-geostrophic model as well as developing a general framework for translating real-space transformations to Fourier-space we are able to: 1) show that baroclinic instability is an example of spontaneous parity-time symmetry breaking; 2) show that pure parity symmetry for a fluid system is exactly analogous to charge-conjugation-parity symmetry in a condensed matter system; and 3) show that when a pure parity symmetry is broken, this is associated with the suppression of wave propagation. Further, in the latter case, instability can arise without a corresponding symmetry breaking. This study highlights the role of symmetry breaking behind the dynamics of geophysical waves and instabilities.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2112.09511,
title = {How do CPT-like symmetries shape the stability of geophysical flows?},
author = {Tomos W. David and Pierre Delplace and Antoine Venaille},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2112.09511},
year = {2022}
}
Comments
19 pages, 5 figures, to be submitted to Proc. Roy. Soc. A