A new type of wave–mean flow interaction is identified and studied in which a small-amplitude, linear, dispersive modulated wave propagates through an evolving, nonlinear, large-scale fluid state such as an expansion (rarefaction) wave or a dispersive shock wave (undular bore). The Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) equation is considered as a prototypical example of dynamic wavepacket–mean flow interaction. Modulation equations are derived for the coupling between linear wave modulations and a nonlinear mean flow. These equations admit a particular class of solutions that describe the transmission or trapping of a linear wavepacket by an unsteady hydrodynamic state. Two adiabatic invariants of motion are identified that determine the transmission, trapping conditions and show that wavepackets incident upon smooth expansion waves or compressive, rapidly oscillating dispersive shock waves exhibit so-called hydrodynamic reciprocity recently described in Maiden et al. ( Phys. Rev. Lett. , vol. 120, 2018, 144101) in the context of hydrodynamic soliton tunnelling. The modulation theory results are in excellent agreement with direct numerical simulations of full KdV dynamics. The integrability of the KdV equation is not invoked so these results can be extended to other nonlinear dispersive fluid mechanic models.
Dynamic soliton–mean flow interaction with non-convex flux
The interaction of localised solitary waves with large-scale, time-varying dispersive mean flows subject to non-convex flux is studied in the framework of the modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation, a canonical model for internal gravity wave propagation and potential vorticity fronts in stratified fluids. The effect of large amplitude, dynamically evolving mean flows on the propagation of localised waves – essentially ‘soliton steering’ by the mean flow – is considered. A recent theoretical and experimental study of this new type of dynamic soliton–mean flow interaction for convex flux has revealed two scenarios where the soliton either transmits through the varying mean flow or remains trapped inside it. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the presence of a non-convex cubic hydrodynamic flux introduces significant modifications to the scenarios for transmission and trapping. A reduced set of Whitham modulation equations is used to formulate a general mathematical framework for soliton–mean flow interaction with non-convex flux. Solitary wave trapping is stated in terms of crossing modulation characteristics. Non-convexity and positive dispersion – common for stratified fluids – imply the existence of localised, sharp transition fronts (kinks). Kinks play dual roles as a mean flow and a wave, imparting polarity reversal to solitons and more »
- Award ID(s):
- 1816934
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10354215
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Fluid Mechanics
- Volume:
- 928
- ISSN:
- 0022-1120
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Publisher's Version of Record
- https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.803
