Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Publication
    Ideal evolution of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence when imposing Taylor-Green symmetries
    (American Physical Society, 2013-01-30) ; ; ;
    We investigate the ideal and incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in three space dimensions for the development of potentially singular structures. The methodology consists in implementing the fourfold symmetries of the Taylor-Green vortex generalized to MHD, leading to substantial computer time and memory savings at a given resolution; we also use a regridding method that allows for lower-resolution runs at early times, with no loss of spectral accuracy. One magnetic configuration is examined at an equivalent resolution of 6144 points and three different configurations on grids of 4096 points. At the highest resolution, two different current and vorticity sheet systems are found to collide, producing two successive accelerations in the development of small scales. At the latest time, a convergence of magnetic field lines to the location of maximum current is probably leading locally to a strong bending and directional variability of such lines. A novel analytical method, based on sharp analysis inequalities, is used to assess the validity of the finite-time singularity scenario. This method allows one to rule out spurious singularities by evaluating the rate at which the logarithmic decrement of the analyticity-strip method goes to zero. The result is that the finite-time singularity scenario cannot be ruled out, and the singularity time could be somewhere between t=2.33 and t=2.70. More robust conclusions will require higher resolution runs and grid-point interpolation measurements of maximum current and vorticity.
    Scopus© Citations 23  311
  • Publication
    Interplay between the Beale-Kato-Majda theorem and the analyticity-strip method to investigate numerically the incompressible Euler singularity problem
    (American Physical Society, 2012-12-05) ;
    Numerical simulations of the incompressible Euler equations are performed using the Taylor-Green vortex initial conditions and resolutions up to 40963. The results are analyzed in terms of the classical analyticity-strip method and Beale, Kato, and Majda (BKM) theorem. A well-resolved acceleration of the time decay of the width of the analyticity strip δ(t) is observed at the highest resolution for 3.7
      341Scopus© Citations 31
  • Publication
    Symmetry-plane model of 3D Euler flows and mapping to regular systems to improve blowup assessment using numerical and analytical solutions
    (Cambridge University Press, 2015) ; ;
    Motivated by the work on stagnation-point-type exact solutions (with infinite energy) of 3D Euler fluid equations by Gibbon et al. (Physica D, vol. 132 (4), 1999, pp. 497–510) and the subsequent demonstration of finite-time blowup by Constantin (Int. Math. Res. Not. IMRN, vol. 9, 2000, pp. 455–465) we introduce a one-parameter family of models of the 3D Euler fluid equations on a 2D symmetry plane. Our models are seen as a deformation of the 3D Euler equations which respects the variational structure of the original equations so that explicit solutions can be found for the supremum norms of the basic fields: vorticity and stretching rate of vorticity. In particular, the value of the model’s parameter determines whether or not there is finite-time blowup, and the singularity time can be computed explicitly in terms of the initial conditions and the model’s parameter. We use a representative of this family of models, whose solution blows up at a finite time, as a benchmark for the systematic study of errors in numerical simulations. Using a high-order pseudospectral method, we compare the numerical integration of our ‘original’ model equations against a 'mapped' version of these equations. The mapped version is a globally regular (in time) system of equations, obtained via a bijective nonlinear mapping of time and fields from the original model equations. The mapping can be constructed explicitly whenever a Beale–Kato–Majda type of theorem is available therefore it is applicable to the 3D Euler equations (Bustamante, Physica D, vol. 240 (13), 2011, pp. 1092–1099). We show that the mapped system’s numerical solution leads to more accurate (by three orders of magnitude) estimates of supremum norms and singularity time compared with the original system. The numerical integration of the mapped equations is demonstrated to entail only a small extra computational cost. We study the Fourier spectrum of the model’s numerical solution and find that the analyticity strip width (a measure of the solution’s analyticity) tends to zero as a power law in a finite time. This is in agreement with the finite-time blowup of the fields’ supremum norms, in the light of rigorous bounds stemming from the bridge (Bustamante & Brachet, Phys. Rev. E, vol. 86 (6), 2012, 066302) between the analyticity-strip method and the Beale–Kato–Majda type of theorems. We conclude by discussing the implications of this research on the analysis of numerical solutions to the 3D Euler fluid equations.
    Scopus© Citations 3  310
  • Publication
    Robust energy transfer mechanism via precession resonance in nonlinear turbulent wave systems
    (American Physical Society, 2014-08-22) ; ;
    A robust energy transfer mechanism is found in nonlinear wave systems, which favours transfers towards modes interacting via triads with nonzero frequency mismatch, applicable in meteorology, nonlinear optics and plasma wave turbulence. We emphasise the concepts of truly dynamical degrees of freedom and triad precession. Transfer efficiency is maximal when the triads’ precession frequencies resonate with the system’s nonlinear frequencies, leading to a collective state of synchronised triads with strong turbulent cascades at intermediate nonlinearity. Numerical simulations confirm analytical predictions
    Scopus© Citations 22  329
  • Publication
    Quadratic invariants for discrete clusters of weakly interacting waves
    We consider discrete clusters of quasi-resonant triads arising from a Hamiltonian three-wave equation. A cluster consists of N modes forming a total of M connected triads. We investigate the problem of constructing a functionally independent set of quadratic constants of motion. We show that this problem is equivalent to an underlying basic linear problem, consisting of finding the null space of a rectangular M × N matrix A with entries 1, −1 and 0. In particular, we prove that the number of independent quadratic invariants is equal to J ≡ N−M∗ N−M, where M∗ is the number of linearly independent rows in A. Thus, the problem of finding all independent quadratic invariants is reduced to a linear algebra problem in the Hamiltonian case. We establish that the properties of the quadratic invariants (e.g., locality) are related to the topological properties of the clusters (e.g., types of linkage). To do so, we formulate an algorithm for decomposing large clusters into smaller ones and show how various invariants are related to certain parts of a cluster, including the basic structures leading to M∗ < M. We illustrate our findings by presenting examples from the Charney–Hasegawa–Mima wave model, and by showing a classification of small (up to three-triad) clusters.
    Scopus© Citations 14  272
  • Publication
    Complete classification of discrete resonant Rossby/drift wave triads on periodic domains
    (Elsevier, 2013-09) ;
    We consider the set of Diophantine equations that arise in the context of the partial differential equation called 'barotropic vorticity equation' on periodic domains, when nonlinear wave interactions are studied to leading order in the amplitudes. The solutions to this set of Diophantine equations are of interest in atmosphere (Rossby waves) and Tokamak plasmas (drift waves), because they provide the values of the spectral wavevectors that interact resonantly via three-wave interactions. These wavenumbers come in 'triads', i.e., groups of three wavevectors. We provide the full solution to the Diophantine equations in the physically sensible limit when the Rossby deformation radius is infinite. The method is completely new, and relies on mapping the unknown variables via rational transformations, first to rational points on elliptic curves and surfaces, and from there to rational points on quadratic forms of 'Minkowski' type (such as the familiar space–time in special relativity). Classical methods invented centuries ago by Fermat, Euler, Lagrange, Minkowski, are used to classify all solutions to our original Diophantine equations, thus providing a computational method to generate numerically all the resonant triads in the system. Computationally speaking, our method has a clear advantage over brute-force numerical search: on a 10,0002 grid, the brute-force search would take 15 years using optimised C++ codes on a cluster, whereas our method takes about 40 min using a laptop. Moreover, the method is extended to generate so-called quasi-resonant triads, which are defined by relaxing the resonant condition on the frequencies, allowing for a small mismatch. Quasi-resonant triads’ distribution in wavevector space is robust with respect to physical perturbations, unlike resonant triads’ distribution. Therefore, the extended method is really valuable in practical terms. We show that the set of quasi-resonant triads form an intricate network of connected triads, forming clusters whose structure depends on the value of the allowed mismatch. It is believed that understanding this network is absolutely relevant to understanding turbulence. We provide some quantitative comparison between the clusters’ structure and the onset of fully nonlinear turbulent regime in the barotropic vorticity equation, and we provide perspectives for new research.
    Scopus© Citations 20  301
  • Publication
    Percolation transition in the kinematics of nonlinear resonance broadening in Charney-Hasegawa-Mima model of Rossby wave turbulence
    We study the kinematics of nonlinear resonance broadening of interacting Rossby waves as modelled by the Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation on a biperiodic domain. We focus on the set of wave modes which can interact quasi-resonantly at a particular level of resonance broadening and aim to characterise how the structure of this set changes as the level of resonance broadening is varied. The commonly held view that resonance broadening can be thought of as a thickening of the resonant manifold is misleading. We show that in fact the set of modes corresponding to a single quasi-resonant triad has a nontrivial structure and that its area in fact diverges for a finite degree of broadening. We also study the connectivity of the network of modes which is generated when quasi-resonant triads share common modes. This network has been argued to form the backbone for energy transfer in Rossby wave turbulence. We show that this network undergoes a percolation transition when the level of resonance broadening exceeds a critical value. Below this critical value, the largest connected component of the quasi-resonant network contains a negligible fraction of the total number of modes in the system whereas above this critical value a finite fraction of the total number of modes in the system are contained in the largest connected component. We argue that this percolation transition should correspond to the transition to turbulence in the system.
    Scopus© Citations 8  287
  • Publication
    Precession and recession of the rock'n'roller
    (IOP Publishing, 2009-09-30) ;
    We study the dynamics of a spherical rigid body that rocks and rolls on a plane under the effect of gravity. The distribution of mass is non-uniform and the centre of mass does not coincide with the geometric centre. The symmetric case, with moments of inertia I1 = I2 < I3, is integrable and themotion is completely regular. Three known conservation laws are the total energy E, Jellett’s quantity QJ and Routh’s quantity QR. When the inertial symmetry I1 = I2 is broken, even slightly, the character of the solutions is profoundly changed and new types of motion become possible. We derive the equations governing the general motion and present analytical and numerical evidence of the recession, or reversal of precession, that has been observed in physical experiments. We present an analysis of recession in terms of critical lines dividing the (QR,QJ ) plane into four dynamically disjoint zones. We prove that recession implies the lack of conservation of Jellett’s and Routh’s quantities, by identifying individual reversals as crossings of the orbit (QR(t ),QJ (t)) through the critical lines. Consequently, a method is found to produce a large number of initial conditions so that the system will exhibit recession.
    Scopus© Citations 11  430
  • Publication
    Derivation of the Biot-Savart equation from the Nonlinear Schrödinger equation
    (American Physical Society, 2015-11-25) ;
    We present a systematic derivation of the Biot-Savart equation from the nonlinear Schrödinger equation, in the limit when the curvature radius of vortex lines and the intervortex distance are much greater than the vortex healing length, or core radius. We derive the Biot-Savart equations in Hamiltonian form with Hamiltonian expressed in terms of vortex lines, [equation not represented here], with cutoff length [equation not represented here], where ρ0 is the background condensate density far from the vortex lines and κ is the quantum of circulation.
      402
  • Publication
    Externally forced triads of resonantly interacting waves: Boundedness and integrability properties
    We revisit the problem of a triad of resonantly interacting nonlinear waves driven by an external force applied to the unstable mode of the triad. The equations are Hamiltonian, and can be reduced to a dynamical system for 5 real variables with 2 conservation laws. If the Hamiltonian, H , is zero we reduce this dynamical system to the motion of a particle in a one-dimensional time-independent potential and prove that the system is integrable. Explicit solutions are obtained for some particular initial conditions. When explicit solution is not possible we present a novel numerical/analytical method for approximating the dynamics. Furthermore we show analytically that when H=0 the motion is generically bounded. That is to say the waves in the forced triad are bounded in amplitude for all times for any initial condition with the single exception of one special choice of initial condition for which the forcing is in phase with the nonlinear oscillation of the triad. This means that the energy in the forced triad generically remains finite for all time despite the fact that there is no dissipation in the system. We provide a detailed characterisation of the dependence of the period and maximum energy of the system on the conserved quantities and forcing intensity. When View the MathML source we reduce the problem to the motion of a particle in a one-dimensional time-periodic potential. Poincaré sections of this system provide strong evidence that the motion remains bounded when View the MathML source and is typically quasi-periodic although periodic orbits can certainly be found. Throughout our analyses, the phases of the modes in the triad play a crucial role in understanding the dynamics.
      250Scopus© Citations 14