Related papers: A Resolution of the Sommerfeld Paradox
Sommerfeld paradox (turbulence paradox) roughly says that mathematically the Couette linear shear flow is linearly stable for all values of the Reynolds number, but experimentally transition from the linear shear to turbulence occurs under…
In this paper, we study nonlinear stability of the 3D plane Couette flow $(y,0,0)$ at high Reynolds number ${Re}$ in a finite channel $\mathbb{T}\times [-1,1]\times \mathbb{T}$. It is well known that the plane Couette flow is linearly…
We investigate the nonlinear dynamics of turbulent shear flows, with and without rotation, in the context of a simple but physically motivated closure of the equation governing the evolution of the Reynolds stress tensor. We show that the…
Abrupt transition to turbulence may occur in pipe and channel flows at moderate flow rates, an unexpected event according to linear stability theory, and has been an open problem in fluid dynamics for more than a century. Extensive…
This paper concerns spectral instability of shear flows in the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with sufficiently large Reynolds number: $R\to \infty$. It is well-documented in the physical literature, going back to Heisenberg, C.C.…
In this note, which is of general stability theory interest, we discuss some of the key assertions usually stated in the context of the transition to turbulence problem. In particular, the two main points made here in the setting of the…
In plane Couette flow, the incompressible fluid between two plane parallel walls is driven by the motion of those walls. The laminar solution, in which the streamwise velocity varies linearly in the wall-normal direction, is known to be…
For applications regarding transition prediction, wing design and control of boundary layers, the fundamental understanding of disturbance growth in the flat-plate boundary layer is an important issue. In the present work we investigate the…
In linearly stable shear flows turbulence spontaneously decays with a characteristic lifetime that varies with Reynolds number. The lifetime sharply increases with Reynolds number so that a possible divergence marking the transition to…
This work addresses the question of the stability of stratified, spatially periodic shear flows at low P\'eclet number but high Reynolds number. This little-studied limit is motivated by astrophysical systems, where the Prandtl number is…
Recent studies have brought into question the view that at sufficiently high Reynolds number turbulence is an asymptotic state. We present the first direct observation of the decay of turbulent states in Taylor-Couette flow with lifetimes…
We investigate the linear instability of flows that are stable according to Rayleigh's criterion for rotating fluids. Using Taylor-Couette flow as a primary test case, we develop large Reynolds number matched asymptotic expansion theories.…
For low enough flow rates, turbulent channel flow displays spatial modulations of large wavelengths. This phenomenon has recently been interpreted as a linear instability of the turbulent flow. We question here the ability of linear…
The Euler equations on a three-dimensional periodic domain have a family of shear flow steady states. We show that the linearised system around these steady states decomposes into subsystems equivalent to the linearisation of shear flows in…
The spherical Couette system consists of two differentially rotating concentric spheres with a fluid filled in between. We study a regime where the outer sphere is rotating rapidly enough so that the Coriolis force is important and the…
This paper is devoted to the study of the nonlinear instability of shear layers and of Prandtl's boundary layers, for the incompressible Navier Stokes equations. We prove that generic shear layers are nonlinearly unstable provided the…
We study the dynamics of the two dimensional Navier Stokes equations linearized around a strictly monotonic shear flow on $\mathbb{T}\times\mathbb{R}$. The main task is to understand the associated Rayleigh and Orr-Sommerfeld equations,…
Nonlinear evolution of a continuous spectrum of unstable waves near the first bifurcation point in circular Couette flow has been investigated. The disturbance is represented by a Fourier integral over all possible axial wavenumbers, and an…
The well-known paradox of linear stability for the some bounded shear flows is not solved up to now and is bypassed on the basis of the non-linear mechanisms consideration. We prove that it is arising only due to an idealized assumption of…
Linear stability of inviscid, parallel, and stably stratified shear flow is studied under the assumption of smooth strictly monotonic profiles of shear flow and density, so that the local Richardson number is positive everywhere. The…