Nonlinear development of acoustical instabilities in supersonic jets

In contrast with the roll-up of fluid interfaces through Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, recent numerical simulations with small amplitude perturbations of supersonic jets reveal another very different coherent mode of nonlinear acoustical instability of jets through the appearance of regular zig-zag shock patterns which traverse the interior of the jet and amplify as time evolves. In this paper, through a combination of appropriate ideas from linear and nonlinear high frequency geometric optics, the authors develop a quantitative theory which predicts the nonlinear development of zig-zag modes with a structure like those observed in the numerical simulations. The perturbation analysis is developed via a systematic application of nonlinear small amplitude high frequency geometric optics to the complex free surface problem defined by the perturbed jet; this procedure automatically yields simplified asymptotic equations which are analyzed explicitly and lead to the development of regular amplifying “zig-zag” shock structures in the jet. For a given streamwise period, Mach number, and jet width, the asymptotic theory gives explicit criteria for the number and structure of different regular zig-zag shock patterns which amplify with time. For Mach numbers M < 1, there are no amplifying acoustic zig-zig modes while for M > 1, there are a finite number of such modes depending on Mach number, jet width, and streamwise period. Explicit criteria to select the most destabilizing of these nonlinear eigenmodes are developed as well as several new quantitative predictions regarding the nonlinear development of acoustical instabilities in supersonic jets including the phenomenon of “super-resonance” for special values of the streamwise period.     

Drift-Alfven Vortex in Low β Magnetized Plasma

Nonlineaidrift-Alfven waves in low β magnetized plasma are reconsidered. Sets of nonlinear equations describing drift-Alfven waves are derived and corresponding dipolar vortex solutions are given. The reault shows that the solution belongs to intrinsic magnetized vortex for which the corresponding perturbed magnetic field line and perturbed electric current on the boundary of vortex are continuous.     

Ginzburg-Landau theory and solitary waves in shape-memory alloys

A one-dimensional dynamic Ginzburg-Landau theory of the martensitic phase transition in shape-memory alloys is established. The nonlinear equations of motion yield solitary wave solutions of kink and of soliton type. The kink solutions which cannot move without external force represent single domain walls either between austenite and martensite or between two martensite variants. The soliton solutions correspond to a matrix of austenite or of martensite containing a moving sheet of the other phase. The velocity of the solitons depends on their amplitude. In the static case they reduce to the critical nucleus. The energy of each type of solitary waves is calculated.     

Nonlinear stage of the Benjamin-Feir instability: three-dimensional coherent structures and rogue waves

A specific, genuinely three-dimensional mechanism of rogue wave formation, in a late stage of the modulational instability of a perturbed Stokes deep-water wave, is recognized through numerical experiments. The simulations are based on fully nonlinear equations describing weakly three-dimensional potential flows of an ideal fluid with a free surface in terms of conformal variables. Spontaneous formation of zigzag patterns for wave amplitude is observed in a nonlinear stage of the instability. If initial wave steepness is sufficiently high (ka>0.06), these coherent structures produce rogue waves. The most tall waves appear in turns of the zigzags. For ka<0.06, the structures decay typically without formation of steep waves.     

Multi-dimensional vortex quasi-simple waves

Multi-dimensional vortex modes of a quasi-simple wave solution is presented. These are constructed on the basis of vortex modes for ideal simple waves. A version of 2D Burgers equation is derived which is the same as that obtained for sound quasi-simple waves if neglecting the last term of the latter. Some solutions are explained in physical detail which have a localized traveling behavior. A numerical simulation is shown to support the obtained analytical solutions.     

Nonlinear Shock and Kink Waves with Complete Coriolis Force in Earth's Atmosphere

Nonlinear waves in a Boussinesq fluid model which includes both the vertical and horizontal components of Coriolis force are studied by using the semi-geostrophic approximation and the method of travelling-wave solution. Taylor series expansion has been employed to isolate the characteristics of the linear Rossby waves and to identify the nonlinear shock and kink waves. The KdV-Burgers and the compound KdV-Burgers equations are derived, their shock wave and kink wave solution are also obtained.     

Dynamics of a nonlinear field

A systematic study is made of the plane wave modes of a nonlinear c-number field (λφ⁴ model) and interesting features of the behavior of such fields, which do not seem to have been observed before, are brought out. These relate to the case λ < 0, wherein there are different regimes characterized by different kinds of elliptic-function forms for the waves. We show that when the amplitude of the elliptic function waves approaches critical values corresponding to “phase transition” from one regime to another, the energy density in the field increases without limit (though the amplitude is finite). In two of the regimes which are “tachyonic” in nature, there are frozen wave modes which are spatially periodic but time independent. These turn out however to be unstable against perturbations. Finally we observe that in one of these regimes there exist a lower bound on the energy density in the wave field. The case of fields with higher nonlinearities is briefly considered.     

Modulational instability and exact soliton solutions for a twist-opening model of DNA dynamics

We study the nonlinear dynamics of DNA which takes into account the twist-opening interactions due to the helicoidal molecular geometry. The small amplitude dynamics of the model is shown to be governed by a solution of a set of coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations. We analyze the modulational instability and solitary wave solution in the case. On the basis of this system, we present the condition for modulation instability occurrence and attention is paid to the impact of the backbone elastic constant K. It is shown that high values of K extend the instability region. Through the Jacobian elliptic function method, we derive a set of exact solutions of the twist-opening model of DNA. These solutions include, Jacobian periodic solution as well as kink and kink-bubble solitons.     

Quasi-stationary nonlinear waves in nuclear matter close to pion condensation

The nuclear hydrodynamic model is extended to include the fluctuating spin-isospin density and its interaction with the nuclear matter density. Using the TDHF equations, it is shown that the dynamics of these densities interacting with the pion field can be expressed in terms of the generalized pressures derivable from the generalized nuclear matter equation of state. A phenomenological Skyrme interaction model is used to obtain these pressures. A theory of pion-like spin-isospin quasi-stationary nonlinear waves is formulated from the generalized hydroequations describing the dynamics of a coupled pion nuclear matter system. In the lowest order of nonlinearity, it is proved that the amplitude of the spin-isospin sound wave satisfies a nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The solution of these equations is the amplitude modulated pion-like solitary waves in nuclear matter. When this matter is near the pion condensate, the speed of these nonlinear waves is much smaller than that of the ordinary sound waves. An implication of the solitary waves excited in such nuclear matter produced in heavy ion collisions is discussed. The characteristic signature of breaking of such waves, produced in a heavy ion central collision, is the emission of a delayed component of correlated nucleons (possibly also with a pion) peaked in the forward direction. It may be that the lighter nuclei³He and³H are produced through such a mechanism.     

Nonlinear wave interactions in porous media filled with a quantum fluid

The problem of the nonlinear interaction between the fourth sound and an acoustic wave propagating in a porous medium filled with superfluid helium is solved. Based on the Landau equations of quantum fluid dynamics and on the Biot theory of mechanical waves in a porous medium, nonlinear wave equations are derived for studying the aforementioned interaction. An expression is obtained for the vertex that determines the excitation of an acoustic wave by two waves of the fourth sound. The possibility of an experimental observation of this process is estimated.     

Solitary Waves of a Perturbed sine—Gordon Equation

Based on the bifurcation and the idea that the solitary waves and shock waves of partial differential equations correspond respectively to the homoclinic and heteroclinic trajectories of nonlinear ordinary differential equations satisfied by the travelling waves,different conditions for the existence of solitary waves of a perturbed sine-Gordon equation are obtained.All of the corresponding approximate solitary wave solutions are given by integrating the derived approximate equations directly.     

On long-wave sound scattering by a Rankine vortex: Non-resonant and resonant cases

The well-known two-dimensional problem of sound scattering by a Rankine vortex at small Mach number M is considered. Despite its long history, the solutions obtained by many authors still are not free from serious objections. The common approach to the problem consists in the transformation of governing equations to the d’Alembert equation with right-hand part. It was recently shown [I.V. Belyaev, V.F. Kopiev, On the problem formulation of sound scattering by cylindrical vortex, Acoustical Physics 54(5) (2008) 603-614] that due to the slow decay of the mean velocity field at infinity the convective equation with nonuniform coefficients instead of the d’Alembert equation should be considered, and the incident wave should be excited by a point source placed at a large but finite distance from the vortex instead of specifying an incident plane wave (which is not a solution of the governing equations).Here we use the new formulation of Belyaev and Kopiev to obtain the correct solution for the problem of non-resonant sound scattering, to second order in Mach number M. The partial harmonic expansion approach and the method of matched asymptotic expansions are employed. The scattered field in the region far outside the vortex is determined as the solution of the convective wave equation, and van Dyke's matching principle is used to match the fields inside and outside the vortical region. Finally, resonant scattering is also considered; an O(M²) result is found that unifies earlier solutions in the literature. These problems are considered for the first time.     

Three-dimensional evolution of a relativistic current sheet: triggering of magnetic reconnection by the guide field

The linear and nonlinear evolution of a relativistic current sheet of pair (e(+/-)) plasmas is investigated by three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. In a Harris configuration, it is obtained that the magnetic energy is fast dissipated by the relativistic drift kink instability (RDKI). However, when a current-aligned magnetic field (the so-called "guide field") is introduced, the RDKI is stabilized by the magnetic tension force and it separates into two obliquely propagating modes, which we call the relativistic drift-kink-tearing instability. These two waves deform the current sheet so that they trigger relativistic magnetic reconnection at a crossover thinning point. Since relativistic reconnection produces a lot of nonthermal particles, the guide field is of critical importance to study the energetics of a relativistic current sheet.     

Solitary waves and rogue waves in a plasma with nonthermal electrons featuring Tsallis distribution

In this Letter, we discuss the electron acoustic (EA) waves in plasmas, which consist of nonthermal hot electrons featuring the Tsallis distribution, and obtain the corresponding governing equation, that is, a nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation. By means of Modulation Instability (MI) analysis of the EA waves, it is found that both electron acoustic solitary wave and rogue wave can exist in such plasmas. Basing on the Darboux transformation method, we derive the analytical expressions of nonlinear solutions of NLS equations, such as single/double solitary wave solutions and single/double rogue wave solutions. The existential regions and amplitude of solitary wave solutions and the rogue wave solutions are influenced by the nonextensive parameter q and nonthermal parameter α. Moreover, the interaction of solitary wave and how to postpone the excitation of rogue wave are also studied.     

Evolution of basic equations for nearshore wave field

In this paper, a systematic, overall view of theories for periodic waves of permanent form, such as Stokes and cnoidal waves, is described first with their validity ranges. To deal with random waves, a method for estimating directional spectra is given. Then, various wave equations are introduced according to the assumptions included in their derivations. The mild-slope equation is derived for combined refraction and diffraction of linear periodic waves. Various parabolic approximations and time-dependent forms are proposed to include randomness and nonlinearity of waves as well as to simplify numerical calculation. Boussinesq equations are the equations developed for calculating nonlinear wave transformations in shallow water. Nonlinear mild-slope equations are derived as a set of wave equations to predict transformation of nonlinear random waves in the nearshore region. Finally, wave equations are classified systematically for a clear theoretical understanding and appropriate selection for specific applications.     

An aeroacoustically driven thermoacoustic heat pump

The mean flow of gas in a pipe past a cavity can excite the resonant acoustic modes of the cavity--much like blowing across the top of a bottle. The periodic shedding of vortices from the leading edge of the mouth of the cavity feeds energy into the acoustic modes which, in turn, affect the shedding of the next vortex. This so-called aeroacoustic whistle can excite very high amplitude acoustic standing waves within a cavity defined by coaxial side branches closed at their ends. The amplitude of these standing waves can easily be 20% of the ambient pressure at optimal gas flow rates and ambient pressures within the main pipe. A standing wave thermoacoustic heat pump is a device which utilizes the in-phase pressure and displacement oscillations to pump heat across a porous medium thereby establishing, or maintaining, a temperature gradient. Experimental results of a combined system of aeroacoustic sound source and a simple thermoacoustic stack will be presented.     

Stability and instability of nonlinear defect states in the coupled mode equations—Analytical and numerical study

Coupled backward and forward wave amplitudes of an electromagnetic field propagating in a periodic and nonlinear medium at Bragg resonance are governed by the nonlinear coupled mode equations (NLCME). This system of PDEs, similar in structure to the Dirac equations, has gap soliton solutions that travel at any speed between 0 and the speed of light. A recently considered strategy for spatial trapping or capture of gap optical soliton light pulses is based on the appropriate design of localized defects in the periodic structure. Localized defects in the periodic structure give rise to defect modes, which persist as nonlinear defect modes as the amplitude is increased. Soliton trapping is the transfer of incoming soliton energy to nonlinear defect modes. To serve as targets for such energy transfer, nonlinear defect modes must be stable. We therefore investigate the stability of nonlinear defect modes. Resonance among discrete localized modes and radiation modes plays a role in the mechanism for stability and instability, in a manner analogous to the nonlinear Schrödinger/Gross-Pitaevskii (NLS/GP) equation. However, the nature of instabilities and how energy is exchanged among modes is considerably more complicated than for NLS/GP due, in part, to a continuous spectrum of radiation modes which is unbounded above and below. In this paper we (a) establish the instability of branches of nonlinear defect states which, for vanishing amplitude, have a linearization with eigenvalues embedded within the continuous spectrum, (b) numerically compute, using Evans function, the linearized spectrum of nonlinear defect states of an interesting multiparameter family of defects, and (c) perform direct time-dependent numerical simulations in which we observe the exchange of energy among discrete and continuum modes.     

Effective temperature and scaling laws of polarized quantum vortex bundles

An effective non-equilibrium temperature is defined for (locally) polarized and dense turbulent superfluid vortex bundles, related to the average energy of the excitations (Kelvin waves) of vortex lines. In the quadratic approximation of the excitation energy in terms of the wave amplitude A, a previously known scaling relation between amplitude and wavelength k of Kelvin waves in polarized bundles, namely A∝k−1/2, follows from the homogeneity of the effective temperature. This result is analogous to that of the well-known equipartition result in equilibrium systems.