Related papers: Nonlinear spontaneous flow instability in active n…
We show that a steady-state solution ${\bf U}$ to the system of equations of a Navier-Stokes flow past a rotating body is nonlinearly unstable if the associated linear operator $\cal L$ has a part of the spectrum in the half-plane…
Two-dimensional (2D) turbulence, despite being an idealization of real flows, is of fundamental interest as a model of the spontaneous emergence of order from chaotic flows. The emergence of order often displays critical behavior, whose…
Recent studies suggest that unstable, non-chaotic solutions of the Navier-Stokes equation may provide deep insights into fluid turbulence. In this article, we present a combined experimental and numerical study exploring the dynamical role…
The transition to turbulence in Taylor-Couette flow often occurs via a sequence of supercritical bifurcations to progressively more complex, yet stable, flows. We describe a subcritical laminar-turbulent transition in the counter-rotating…
Although the roll/streak structure is ubiquitous in pre-transitional wall-bounded shear flow, this structure is linearly stable if the idealization of laminar flow is made. Lacking an instability, the large transient growth of the…
The emergence of long-range spatiotemporal order from intrinsic chaos is a central challenge in far-from-equilibrium physics. In active fluids, such as cytoskeletal networks driving cellular motion, self-generated flows typically produce…
In this paper we report a novel inertial instability that occurs in electro-osmotically driven channel flows. We assume that the charge motion under the influence of an externally applied electric field is confined to a small vicinity of…
We numerically study the effect of an active turbulent environment on a passive deformable droplet. The system is simulated using coupled hydrodynamic and nematodynamic equations for nematic liquid crystals with an active stress which is…
I put forward a continuum theory for active nematic gels, defined as fluids or suspensions of orientable rodlike objects endowed with active dynamics, that is based on symmetry arguments and compatibility with thermodynamics. The starting…
While studies of active nematics in two dimensions have shed light on various aspects of the flow regimes and topology of active matter, three-dimensional properties of topological defects and chaotic flows remain unexplored. By confining a…
Are solids intrinsically different from liquids? Must a finite stress be applied in order to induce flow? Or, instead, do all solids only look rigid on some finite timescales and eventually flow if an infinitesimal shear stress is applied?…
A modal stability analysis shows that pressure-driven pipe flow of an Oldroyd-B fluid is linearly unstable to axisymmetric perturbations, in stark contrast to its Newtonian counterpart which is linearly stable at all Reynolds numbers. The…
We analyze a model of mutually-propelled filaments suspended in a two-dimensional solvent. The system undergoes a mean-field isotropic-nematic transition for large enough filament concentrations and the nematic order parameter is allowed to…
We show that viscoelastic plane Poiseuille flow becomes linearly unstable in the absence of inertia, in the limit of high elasticities, for ultra-dilute polymer solutions. While inertialess elastic instabilities have been predicted for…
Viscous flows are laminar and deterministic. Robust linear laws accurately predict their streamlines in structures as complex as blood vessels, porous media and pipe networks. However, biological and synthetic active fluids defy these…
Recent experiments and numerical studies have drawn attention to the dynamics of active nematics. Two-dimensional active nematics flow spontaneously and exhibit spatiotemporal chaotic flows with proliferation of topological defects in the…
A non-modal linear stability analysis (NMA) of the miscible viscous fingering in a porous medium is studied for a toy model of non-monotonic viscosity variation. The onset of instability and its physical mechanism are captured in terms of…
We investigate the laminar flow of two-fluid mixtures inside a simple network of inter-connected tubes. The fluid system is comprised of two miscible Newtonian fluids of different viscosity which do not mix and remain as nearly distinct…
Contrasting with free shear flows presenting velocity profiles with inflection points which cascade to turbulence in a relatively mild way, wall bounded flows are deprived of (inertial) instability modes at low Reynolds numbers and become…
Interior stagnation point flows of viscoelastic liquids arise in a wide variety of applications including extensional viscometry, polymer processing and microfluidics. Experimentally, these flows have long been known to exhibit…