dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaUnbalanced instabilities of rapidly rotating stratified shear flows
| Authors | J Vanneste, I Yavneh |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0611054 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611054 |
| DOI | 10.1017/S002211200700643X |
Abstract
The linear stability of a rotating, stratified, inviscid horizontal plane Couette flow in a channel is studied in the limit of strong rotation and stratification. An energy argument is used to show that unstable perturbations must have large wavenumbers. This motivates the use of a WKB-approach which, in the first instance, provides an approximation for the dispersion relation of the various waves that can propagate in the flow. These are Kelvin waves, trapped near the channel walls, and inertia-gravity waves with or without turning points. Although, the wave phase speeds are found to be real to all algebraic orders in the Rossby number, we establish that the flow, whether cyclonic or anticyclonic, is unconditionally unstable. This is the result of linear resonances between waves with oppositely signed wave momenta. We derive asymptotic estimates for the instability growth rates, which are exponentially small in the Rossby number, and confirm them by numerical computations. Our results, which extend those of Kushner et al (1998) and Yavneh et al (2001), highlight the limitations of the so-called balanced models, widely used in geophysical fluid dynamics, which filter out Kelvin and inertia-gravity waves and hence predict the stability of the Couette flow. They are also relevant to the stability of Taylor-Couette flows and of astrophysical accretion discs.
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"abstract": "The linear stability of a rotating, stratified, inviscid horizontal plane\nCouette flow in a channel is studied in the limit of strong rotation and\nstratification. An energy argument is used to show that unstable perturbations\nmust have large wavenumbers. This motivates the use of a WKB-approach which, in\nthe first instance, provides an approximation for the dispersion relation of\nthe various waves that can propagate in the flow. These are Kelvin waves,\ntrapped near the channel walls, and inertia-gravity waves with or without\nturning points.\n Although, the wave phase speeds are found to be real to all algebraic orders\nin the Rossby number, we establish that the flow, whether cyclonic or\nanticyclonic, is unconditionally unstable. This is the result of linear\nresonances between waves with oppositely signed wave momenta. We derive\nasymptotic estimates for the instability growth rates, which are exponentially\nsmall in the Rossby number, and confirm them by numerical computations. Our\nresults, which extend those of Kushner et al (1998) and Yavneh et al (2001),\nhighlight the limitations of the so-called balanced models, widely used in\ngeophysical fluid dynamics, which filter out Kelvin and inertia-gravity waves\nand hence predict the stability of the Couette flow. They are also relevant to\nthe stability of Taylor-Couette flows and of astrophysical accretion discs.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0611054",
"authors": [
"J Vanneste",
"I Yavneh"
],
"categories": [
"physics.flu-dyn",
"physics.ao-ph"
],
"doi": "10.1017/S002211200700643X",
"title": "Unbalanced instabilities of rapidly rotating stratified shear flows",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611054"
},
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