Asymptotic Models of Diffusion Effects due to Nonlinear Resonant Interaction of Waves with Flows

We develop an asymptotic theory describing nonlocal effects caused by weak-diffusion processes in the case of resonant interaction of quasi-harmonic waves of small but finite amplitudes with flows of various physical nature in the case of an arbitrary relation between the nonlinearity and diffusion.We analyze the interaction of internal gravity waves with plane-parallel stratified shear flows in the nonlinearly-dissipative critical layer (CL) formed in the vicinity of the resonance level where the flow velocity is equal to the phase velocity of the wave. It is shown that the combined effect of the radiation force in the inner region of the CL and vorticity diffusion to the outer region results in the formation of a flow in which the asymptotic values of average vorticity at different sides of the CL are constant but different. If the criterion of the linear dynamic stability is satisfied (the Richardson number Ri>1/4), the resulting vorticity steps are comparable to the unperturbed vorticity. As a result, a wave reflected from the vorticity inhomogeneity in the CL is formed. As the amplitude of the incident wave increases, the average vorticity at the incidence side approaches the linear-stability threshold (Richardson number Ri > 1/4), and the reflection coefficient tends to -1.In the regime of nonlinear dissipative CL, we study the quasi-stationary asymptotic behavior of the flow formed by an internal gravity wave incident on a dynamically stable flow with velocity and density stratification, whose velocity at some level is equal to the phase velocity of the wave. It is shown that the vorticity diffusion results in the formation of a nonlocal transition region between the CL and the unperturbed flow, which we call the diffusive boundary layer (DBL). In this case, the CL is shifted toward the incident wave. We obtain a self-similar solution for the average fields, which is valid in the case of a constant vorticity step in the CL, and determine its parameters depending on the inner Reynolds number in the CL which describes the relation between the nonlinear and diffusive effects for the wave field in the resonance region. We determine the structure and temporal dynamics of the DBL formed by a rough surface streamlined by a stratified fluid whose velocity changes direction at some level.It is shown that in the case of the nonlinear resonance interaction of plasma electrons with a Langmuir wave, the electron diffusion in the velocity space leads to a significant nonlocal distortion of the electron distribution function outside the trapping region. We determine the distorted distribution function and calculate the rate of the nonlinear Landau damping of a finite-amplitude wave for an arbitrary ratio of the electron collision rate and the oscillation period of trapped electrons.