VECTOR FIELDS IN R2 WITH MAXIMAL INDEX

We consider the method of Poincaré to investigate thelocal index of vector fields in the plane. If m is the degreeof the first non-zero jet, X_m, of the vector field X at an isolatedzero, we explore the geometry of the pencil generated by thecoordinate functions of X_m when the absolute value of the indexof X, |ind (X)|, is m. We also find necessary and sufficientconditions for |ind (X)| to be m.     

Sound propagation in an unstable atmospheric layer

The equation of sound propagation in an unstable medium produced by the presence of supersaturated water vapor in it, which can appear in a hurricane area, is derived. This equation takes into account the effects of sound velocity dispersion, amplification, damping, and nonlinear effects. Some solutions to this equation are presented, illustrating the specific features of sound propagation in an unstable medium. Published in Akusticheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2007, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 477–480.     

Vortex ring generation due to the coalescence of a water drop at a free surface

 Results are presented of an experimental investigation of vortex ring formation by a fluid drop contacting a free surface with negligible velocity. The pool fluid is mixed with fluorescein dye, and a laser sheet is used to illuminate a plane of the flow. A series of representative images is recorded by a CCD camera and speculation is made regarding specific sources of vorticity flux through the free surface. Two scaling analyses previously presented by other investigators are demonstrated to be equivalent under the assumptions of this experiment, and they provide the motivation for a series of test runs in which the duration of the coalescence process, τ_*, is related to variations in drop diameter L and fluid surface tension σ. Experimental results are in agreement with the analyses, showing τ_*∼σ^-1/2 and τ_*∼L ^3/2. Received: 22 December 1995 / Accepted: 15 October 1996     

On the dispersion of a solute in oscillating flow of a non-Newtonian fluid in a channel

The paper presents an exact analysis of the dispersion of an immiscible solute in a non-Newtonian fluid (known as an incompressible second-order fluid which shows viscoelastic behaviour) flowing slowly in a parallel plate channel in the presence of a periodic pressure gradient. Using a generalized dispersion model which is valid for all times after the solute injection, the diffusion coefficients K _i (τ)(i=1,2,3,…) are obtained as functions of time τ in the case when the initial solute distribution is in the form of a slug of finite extent. The analysis leads to the novel result that K ₂(τ) (which is a measure of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient of the solute) has a steady part S in addition to a fluctuating part D ₂(τ) due to the pulsatility of the flow. It is found that S decreases with increase in the viscoelastic parameter M for given values of the amplitude λ and frequency ω of the pressure pulsation. On the other hand, it is found that at a fixed instant τ, the amplitude of D ₂(τ) increases with increase in M for given values of λ and ω. Further it is shown that at a given instant τ, the amplitude of D ₂(τ) decreases with increase in ω for given λ and M and the profile for D ₂(τ) becomes progressively flatter with increase in ω. Finally the axial distribution of the average concentration θ _m of the solute over the channel cross-section is determined at different instants after the solute injection for several values of M, λ and ω. The present study is likely to have important bearing on the problem of dispersion of tracers in blood flow through arteries.     

Equilibrium distributions of stochastic networks without detailed balance

We present results for the determination of the equilibrium microstate probability distribution of a class of strongly interacting systems obeying stochastic dynamics but without the necessity of detailed balance. The specific case of Ising systems is highlighted, with applications to non-symmetric synaptic neural networks and more general recurrent Boolean networks.     

Solution of a singular Cauchy problem of implicit form

Translated from Ukrainskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 43, No. 6, pp. 755–760, June, 1991.