Hydrodynamics And Nonlinear Instabilities

Seven internationally respected contributors provide a coherent discussion of an important area in theoretical physics - an ideal book for researchers.

For the first time in a single book, Non-Linear Instabilities in Plasmas and Hydrodynamics presents the underlying physics of fast secondary instabilities. This exceptionally well-written, introductory book discusses the basic ideas of the physics of secondary or induced, nonlinear instabilities in wave-sustaining media. The authors, world-renowned experts in the field, have brought together the results of papers scattered throughout the literature to explain subjects as diverse as fluctuation chaos, wave-turbulent instabilities, vortex dynamos, beam-plasma interactions, plasma confinement, and the origins of typhoons in the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic fields in galaxies. Paving the way for new and exciting research in the future, this broad, interdisciplinary book enables a wide range of physicists to apply the concepts discussed to obtain new results in plasma physics, space physics, hydrodynamics, and geophysics.

The instability of fluid flows is a key topic in classical fluid mechanics because it has huge repercussions for applied disciplines such as chemical engineering, hydraulics, aeronautics, and geophysics. This modern introduction is written for any student, researcher, or practitioner working in the area, for whom an understanding of hydrodynamic instabilities is essential. Based on a decade's experience of teaching postgraduate students in fluid dynamics, this book brings the subject to life by emphasizing the physical mechanisms involved. The theory of dynamical systems provides the basic structure of the exposition, together with asymptotic methods. Wherever possible, Charru discusses the phenomena in terms of characteristic scales and dimensional analysis. The book includes numerous experimental studies, with references to videos and multimedia material, as well as over 150 exercises which introduce the reader to new problems.

For the first time in a single book, Non-Linear Instabilities in Plasmas and Hydrodynamics presents the underlying physics of fast secondary instabilities. This exceptionally well-written, introductory book discusses the basic ideas of the physics of secondary or induced, nonlinear instabilities in wave-sustaining media. The authors, world-renowned experts in the field, have brought together the results of papers scattered throughout the literature to explain subjects as diverse as fluctuation chaos, wave-turbulent instabilities, vortex dynamos, beam-plasma interactions, plasma confinement, and the origins of typhoons in the Earth's atmosphere and magnetic fields in galaxies. Paving the way for new and exciting research in the future, this broad, interdisciplinary book enables a wide range of physicists to apply the concepts discussed to obtain new results in plasma physics, space physics, hydrodynamics, and geophysics.

In December 1994 Professor Enok Palm celebrated his 70th birthday and retired after more than forty years of service at the University of Oslo. In view of his outstanding achievements as teacher and scientist a symposium entitled "Waves and Nonlinear Processes in Hydrodynamics" was held in his honour from the 17th to the 19th November 1994 in the locations of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo. The topics of the symposium were chosen to cover Enok's broad range of scientific work, interests and accomplishments: Marine hydrodynamics, nonlinear wave theory, nonlinear stability, thermal convection and geophys ical fluid dynamics, starting with Enok's present activity, ending with the field where he began his career. This order was followed in the symposium program. The symposium had two opening lectures. The first looked back on the history of hydrodynamic research at the University of Oslo. The second focused on applications of hydrodynamics in the offshore industry today.

Instability of flows and their transition to turbulence are widespread phenomena in engineering and the natural environment, and are important in applied mathematics, astrophysics, biology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography and physics as well as engineering. This is a textbook to introduce these phenomena at a level suitable for a graduate course, by modelling them mathematically, and describing numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. The visualization of instabilities is emphasized, with many figures, and in references to more still and moving pictures. The relation of chaos to transition is discussed at length. Many worked examples and exercises for students illustrate the ideas of the text. Readers are assumed to be fluent in linear algebra, advanced calculus, elementary theory of ordinary differential equations, complex variables and the elements of fluid mechanics. The book is aimed at graduate students but will also be very useful for specialists in other fields.

Offers modern and numerical techniques for the stability of fluid flow with illustrations, an extensive bibliography, and exercises with solutions.

This book (2nd edition) is a self-contained introduction to a wide body of knowledge on nonlinear dynamics and chaos. Manneville emphasises the understanding of basic concepts and the nontrivial character of nonlinear response, contrasting it with the intuitively simple linear response. He explains the theoretical framework using pedagogical examples from fluid dynamics, though prior knowledge of this field is not required. Heuristic arguments and worked examples replace most esoteric technicalities. Only basic understanding of mathematics and physics is required, at the level of what is currently known after one or two years of undergraduate training: elementary calculus, basic notions of linear algebra and ordinary differential calculus, and a few fundamental physical equations (specific complements are provided when necessary). Methods presented are of fully general use, which opens up ample windows on topics of contemporary interest. These include complex dynamical processes such as patterning, chaos control, mixing, and even the Earth's climate. Numerical simulations are proposed as a means to obtain deeper understanding of the intricacies induced by nonlinearities in our everyday environment, with hints on adapted modelling strategies and their implementation.