Topological transition in stratified fluids

Abstract

Lamb waves are trapped acoustic-gravity waves that propagate energy over great distances along a solid boundary in density stratified, compressible fluids. They constitute useful indicators of explosions in planetary atmospheres. When the density stratification exceeds a threshold, or when the impermeability condition at the boundary is relaxed, atmospheric Lamb waves suddenly disappear. Here we use topological arguments to predict the possible existence of new trapped Lamb-like waves in the absence of a solid boundary, depending on the stratification profile. The topological origin of the Lamb-like waves is emphasized by relating their existence to two-band crossing points carrying opposite Chern numbers. The existence of these band crossings coincides with a restoration of the vertical mirror symmetry that is in general broken by gravity. From this perspective, Lamb-like waves also bear strong similarities with boundary modes encountered in quantum valley Hall effect. Our study shows that the presence of Lamb-like waves encode essential information on the underlying stratification profile in astrophysical and geophysical flows, which is often poorly constrained by observations.