scholarly journals On the Relativistic Harmonic Oscillator

Author(s):  
Yair Zarmi

Abstract In view of interest in relativistic harmonic oscillations in media, through which the speed of light is orders of magnitude smaller than in vacuum, the solution of the equation of motion is analyzed in the extreme- and weak-relativistic limits. Using scaled variables, it is shown rigorously how the equation of motion exhibits the characteristics of a boundary-layer problem in the extreme-relativistic limit: The solution differs from a sharp asymptotic pattern only around the turning points of oscillations over a vanishingly small fraction of the period. The sharp asymptotic pattern of the solution is a saw-tooth composed of linear segments. The velocity profile tends to a periodic step function and the phase-space plot tends to a rectangle. An expansion of the solution in terms of a small parameter that measures the proximity to the limit (v/c) → 1 yields an excellent approximation for the solution throughout the whole period of oscillations. In the weak-relativistic limit the same approach yields an approximation to the solution that is significantly better than in traditional asymptotic expansion procedures.

2009 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Ahmad ◽  
K. Naeem ◽  
Waqar Ahmed Khan

This paper presents the classical approximation scheme to investigate the velocity profile associated with the Falkner–Skan boundary-layer problem. Solution of the boundary-layer equation is obtained for a model problem in which the flow field contains a substantial region of strongly reversed flow. The problem investigates the flow of a viscous liquid past a semi-infinite flat plate against an adverse pressure gradient. Optimized results for the dimensionless velocity profiles of reverse wedge flow are presented graphically for different values of wedge angle parameter β taken from 0≤β≤2.5. Weighted residual method (WRM) is used for determining the solution of nonlinear boundary-layer problem. Finally, for β=0 the results of WRM are compared with the results of homotopy perturbation method.


2002 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Wong ◽  
Heping Yang

A numerical solution has been obtained for the development of the flow from the initial unsteady state described by Rayleigh to the ultimate steady state described by Blasius. The usual formulation of the problem in two independent variables is dropped, and three independent variables, in space and time, are reverted to. The boundary-layer problem is unconventional in that the boundary conditions are not completely known. Instead, it is known that the solution should satisfy a similarity condition, and use is made of this to obtain a solution by iteration. A finite-difference technique of a mixed, explicit-implicit, type is employed. The iteration converges rapidly. It is terminated where the maximum errors are estimated to be about 0.04%. A selection of the results for the velocity profiles and the surface shear stress is presented. One striking feature is the rapidity of the transition from the Rayleigh to the Blasius state. The change is practically complete, at a given station on the plate, by the time the plate has moved a distance equal to four times the distance from the station to the leading edge of the plate.


This work examines the stability of viscous, incompressible flow along a streamwise corner, often called the corner boundary-layer problem. The semi-infinite boundary value problem satisfied by small-amplitude disturbances in the ‘blending boundary layer’ region is obtained. The mean secondary flow induced by the corner exhibits a flow reversal in this region. Uniformly valid ‘first approximations’ to solutions of the governing differ­ential equations are derived. Uniformity at infinity is achieved by a suitable choice of the large parameter and use of an appropriate Langer variable. Approximations to solutions of balanced type have a phase shift across the critical layer which is associated with instabilities in the case of two-dimensional boundary layer profiles.


1972 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-152
Author(s):  
S. D. Katotakis ◽  
J. Vlachopoulos

A straight-forward and general finite-difference solution of the boundary layer equations is presented. Several problems are examined for laminar flow conditions. These include velocity and temperature boundary layers over a flat plate, linearly retarded flows and several cases of suction or injection. The results obtained are in excellent agreement with existing accurate solutions. It appears that any kind of steady, two-dimensional boundary layer problem can be solved thus with accuracy and speed.


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