English

Transition to Absolute Instability for (not so) Dummies

Fluid Dynamics 2014-03-25 v1

Abstract

These notes are intended as an elementary introduction to the concept of absolute instability. The transition from convective instability to absolute instability is an important issue when the stability of stationary flow solutions is investigated. The arguments here described were first developed in the framework of plasma physics and later applied to the hydrodynamics of mixing layers and shear flows. Far from being a comprehensive analysis of this complicated subject, the aim of these notes is just to sketch a rudimentary and quite elementary ground for physicists or engineers which have a familiarity with the basic features of linear stability in fluid dynamics, but are new to the concept of absolute instability.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1403.5794,
  title  = {Transition to Absolute Instability for (not so) Dummies},
  author = {Antonio Barletta and Leonardo Santos de Brito Alves},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1403.5794},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

14 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-22T03:32:27.590Z