Modulation Instability of Surface Waves in the Model with the Uniform Wind Profile

The modulation instability of surface capillary-gravity water waves is analysed in a shear flow model with a tangential discontinuity of velocity. It is assumed that air blows along the surface of the water with a uniform profile in the vertical direction. Such a model, despite its simplicity, plays an important role in hydrodynamics as the reference model for investigating basic physical phenomena of wave-current interactions and acquiring insights into a series of complex phenomena. In certain cases where the wavelength of interfacial perturbations is much bigger than the width of the shear fow profile, the model with the tangential discontinuity in the velocity is adequate for describing physical phenomena at least within limited spatial and temporal frameworks. A detailed analysis of the air-flow conditions under which modulation instability sets in is presented. It is also shown that the interfacial waves are subject to dissipative or radiative instability when negativeenergy waves appear at the interface.

Radiative instability of a barotropic jet flow in a stratified rotating atmosphere

The problem of the stability of a jet flow with a piecewise linear velocity profile in a stratified rotating atmosphere is considered. The linearized system of equations for perturbations is reduced to a single equation with respect to the amplitude of the longitudinal velocity component containing the turning points. In terms of Airy functions, an asymptotic solution of the equation is constructed that is valid for small values of the Rossby number. It is shown that the flow becomes unstable due to radiation of inertial-gravitational waves. An analytical expression is obtained for the growth rate of perturbations.

Instability of a boundary layer flow on a vertical wall in a stably stratified fluid

The stability of a horizontal boundary layer flow on a vertical wall in a viscous stably stratified fluid is considered in this work. A temporal stability analysis is performed for a tanh velocity profile as a function of the Reynolds number $Re=UL/{\it\nu}$ and the Froude number $F=U/(LN)$ where $U$ is the main stream velocity, $L$ the boundary layer thickness, $N$ the buoyancy frequency and ${\it\nu}$ the kinematic viscosity. The diffusion of density is neglected. The boundary layer flow is found to be unstable with respect to two instabilities. The first one is the classical viscous instability which gives rise to Tollmien–Schlichting (TS) waves. We demonstrate that, even in the presence of stratification, the most unstable TS wave remains two-dimensional and therefore independent of the Froude number. The other instability is three-dimensional, inviscid in nature and associated with the stratification. It corresponds to the so-called radiative instability. We show that this instability appears first for $Re\geqslant Re_{c}^{(r)}\approx 1995$ for a Froude number close to 1.5 whereas the viscous instability develops for $Re\geqslant Re_{c}^{(v)}\approx 3980$. For large Reynolds numbers, the radiative instability is also shown to exhibit a much larger growth rate than the viscous instability in a large Froude number interval. We argue that this instability could develop in experimental facilities as well as in geophysical situations encountered in ocean and atmosphere.

Critical layer and radiative instabilities in shallow-water shear flows

In this study a linear stability analysis of shallow-water flows is undertaken for a representative Froude number $\def \xmlpi #1{}\def \mathsfbi #1{\boldsymbol {\mathsf {#1}}}\let \le =\leqslant \let \leq =\leqslant \let \ge =\geqslant \let \geq =\geqslant \def \Pr {\mathit {Pr}}\def \Fr {\mathit {Fr}}\def \Rey {\mathit {Re}}F=3.5$. The focus is on monotonic base flow profiles $U$ without an inflection point, in order to study critical layer instability (CLI) and its interaction with radiative instability (RI). First the dispersion relation is presented for the piecewise linear profile studied numerically by Satomura (J. Meterol. Soc. Japan, vol. 59, 1981, pp. 148–167) and using WKBJ analysis an interpretation given of mode branches, resonances and radiative instability. In particular surface gravity (SG) waves can resonate with a limit mode (LM) (or Rayleigh wave), localised near the discontinuity in shear in the flow; in this piecewise profile there is no critical layer. The piecewise linear profile is then continuously modified in a family of nonlinear profiles, to show the effect of the vorticity gradient $Q^{\prime } = - U^{\prime \prime }$ on the nature of the modes. Some modes remain as modes and others turn into quasi-modes (QM), linked to Landau damping of disturbances to the flow, depending on the sign of the vorticity gradient at the critical point. Thus an interpretation of critical layer instability for continuous profiles is given, as the remnant of the resonance with the LM. Numerical results and WKBJ analysis of critical layer instability and radiative instability for more general smooth profiles are provided. A link is made between growth rate formulae obtained by considering wave momentum and those found via the WKBJ approximation. Finally the competition between the stabilising effect of vorticity gradients in a critical layer and the destabilising effect of radiation (radiative instability) is studied.

Effect of electron inertia on radiative instability of rotating two-component gaseous plasma

The problem of radiative instability of homogeneous rotating partially ionized plasma incorporating viscosity, porosity, and electron inertia in the presence of a magnetic field is investigated. A general dispersion relation is obtained using normal mode analysis with the help of relevant linearized perturbation equations of the problem. The modified Jeans criterion of instability is obtained. The conditions of Jeans instabilities are discussed in the different cases of interest. It is found that the simultaneous effect of viscosity, rotation, finite conductivity, and porosity of the medium does not essentially change the Jeans criterion of instability. It is also found that the presence of arbitrary radiative heat-loss function and thermal conductivity modified the conditions of Jeans instability for longitudinal propagation. It is found that, for longitudinal propagation, the conditions of radiative instability are independent of magnetic field, viscosity, rotation, finite electrical resistivity, and electron inertia, but for the transverse mode of propagation it depends upon finite electrical resistivity and strength of magnetic field and is independent of viscosity, electron inertia, and rotation. From the curves we find that viscosity has a stabilizing effect on the growth rate of instability but the thermal conductivity and density-dependent heat-loss function has a destabilizing effect on the instability growth rate.