arXiv subjects

Andrew D. Gilbert

Publications and source records attributed to Andrew D. Gilbert.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Geometric approaches to Lagrangian averaging

Lagrangian averaging theories, most notably the Generalised Lagrangian Mean (GLM) theory of Andrews & McIntyre (1978), have been primarily developed in Euclidean space and Cartesian coordinates. We re-interpret these theories using a geometric, coordinate-free formulation. This gives central roles to the flow map, its decomposition into mean and perturbation maps, and the momentum 1-form dual to the velocity vector. In this interpretation, the Lagrangian mean of any tensorial quantity is obtained by averaging its pull back to the mean configuration. Crucially, the mean velocity is not a Lagrangian mean in this sense. It can be defined in a variety of ways, leading to alternative Lagrangian mean formulations that include GLM and Soward & Roberts' (2010) glm. These formulations share key features which the geometric approach uncovers. We derive governing equations both for the mean flow and for wave activities constraining the dynamics of the pertubations. The presentation focusses on the Boussinesq model for inviscid rotating stratified flows and reviews the necessary tools of differential geometry.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

On statistical zonostrophic instability and the effect of magnetic fields

Zonal flows are mean flows in the east-west direction, which are ubiquitous on planets, and can be formed through 'zonostrophic instability': within turbulence or random waves, a weak large-scale zonal flow can grow exponentially to become prominent. In this paper, we study the statistical behaviour of the zonostrophic instability and the effect of magnetic fields. We use a stochastic white noise forcing to drive random waves, and study the growth of a mean flow in this random system. The dispersion relation for the growth rate of the expectation of the mean flow is derived, and properties of the instability are discussed. In the limits of weak and strong magnetic diffusivity, the dispersion relation reduces to manageable expressions, which provide clear insights into the effect of the magnetic field and scaling laws for the threshold of instability. The magnetic field mainly plays a stabilising role and thus impedes the formation of the zonal flow, but under certain conditions it can also have destabilising effects. Numerical simulation of the stochastic flow is performed to confirm the theory. Results indicate that the magnetic field can significantly increase the randomness of the zonal flow. It is found that the zonal flow of an individual realisation may behave very differently from the expectation. For weak magnetic diffusivity and moderate magnetic field strengths, this leads to considerable variation of the outcome, that is whether zonostrophic instability takes place or not in individual realisations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

An analytical study of the MHD clamshell instability on a sphere

This paper studies the instability of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) systems on a sphere using analytical methods. The underlying flow consists of a zonal differential rotation and a toroidal magnetic field is present. Semicircle rules that prescribe the possible domain of the wave velocity in the complex plane for general flow and field profiles are derived. The paper then sets out an analytical study of the `clamshell instability', which features field lines on the two hemispheres tilting in opposite directions (Cally 2001, Sol. Phys. vol. 199, pp. 231--249). An asymptotic solution for the instability problem is derived for the limit of weak shear of the zonal flow, via the method of matched asymptotic expansions. It is shown that when the zonal flow is solid body rotation, there exists a neutral mode that tilts the magnetic field lines, referred to as the `tilting mode'. A weak shear of the zonal flow excites the critical layer of the tilting mode, which reverses the tilting direction to form the clamshell pattern and induces the instability. The asymptotic solution provides insights into properties of the instability for a range of flow and field profiles. A remarkable feature is that the magnetic field affects the instability only through its local behaviour in the critical layer.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

A geometric look at momentum flux and stress in fluid mechanics

We develop a geometric formulation of fluid dynamics, valid on arbitrary Riemannian manifolds, that regards the momentum-flux and stress tensors as 1-form valued 2-forms, and their divergence as a covariant exterior derivative. We review the necessary tools of differential geometry and obtain the corresponding coordinate-free form of the equations of motion for a variety of inviscid fluid models -- compressible and incompressible Euler equations, Lagrangian-averaged Euler-$α$ equations, magnetohydrodynamics and shallow-water models -- using a variational derivation which automatically yields a symmetric momentum flux. We also consider dissipative effects and discuss the geometric form of the Navier--Stokes equations for viscous fluids and of the Oldroyd-B model for visco-elastic fluids.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

A geometric look at MHD and the Braginsky dynamo

This paper considers magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) and some of its applications from the perspective of differential geometry, considering the dynamics of an ideal fluid flow and magnetic field on a general three-dimensional manifold, equipped with a metric and an induced volume form. The benefit of this level of abstraction is that it clarifies basic aspects of fluid dynamics such as how certain quantities are transported, how they transform under the action of mappings (for example the flow map between Lagrangian labels and Eulerian positions), how conservation laws arise, and the origin of certain approximations that preserve the mathematical structure of classical mechanics. First, the governing equations for ideal MHD are derived in a general setting by means of an action principle, and making use of Lie derivatives. The way in which these equations transform under a pull back, by the map taking the position of a fluid parcel to a background location, is detailed. This is then used to parameterise Alfvén waves using concepts of pseudomomentum and pseudofield, in parallel with the development of Generalised Lagrangian Mean theory in hydrodynamics. Finally non-ideal MHD is considered with a sketch of the development of the Braginsky $αω$-dynamo in a general setting. Expressions for the $α$-tensor are obtained, including a novel geometric formulation in terms of connection coefficients, and related to formulae found elsewhere in the literature.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Eroding dipoles and vorticity growth for Euler flows in $ \scriptstyle{\mathbb{R}}^3$: The hairpin geometry as a model for finite-time blowup

A theory of an eroding "hairpin" vortex dipole structure in three dimensions is developed, extending our previous study of an axisymmetric eroding dipole without swirl. The hairpin is here similarly proposed as a model to produce large "self-stretching" of vorticity, with the possibility of finite-time blow-up. We derive a system of partial differential equations of "generalized" form, involving contour averaging of a locally two-dimensional Euler flow. We do not attempt here to solve the system exactly, but point out that non-existence of physically acceptable solutions would most probably be a result of the axial flow. Because of the axial flow the vorticity distribution within the dipole eddies is no longer of the simple Sadovskii type (vorticity constant over a cross-section) obtained in the axisymmetric problem. Thus the solution of the system depends upon the existence of a larger class of propagating two-dimensional dipoles. The hairpin model is obtained by formal asymptotic analysis. As in the axisymmetric problem a local transformation to "shrinking" coordinates is introduced, but now in a self-similar form appropriate to the study of a possible finite-time singularity. We discuss some properties of the model, including a study of the helicity and a first step in iterating toward a solution from the Sadovskii structure. We also present examples of two-dimensional propagating dipoles not previously studied, which have a vorticity profile consistent with our model. Although no rigorous results can be given, and analysis of the system is only partial, the formal calculations are consistent with the possibility of a finite time blowup of vorticity at a point of vanishing circulation of the dipole eddies, but depending upon the existence of the necessary two-dimensional propagating dipole.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Eroding dipoles and vorticity growth for Euler flows in $ \scriptstyle{\mathbb{R}}^3$ I. Axisymmetric flow without swirl

A review of analyses based upon anti-parallel vortex structures suggests that structurally stable vortex structures with eroding circulation may offer a path to the study of rapid vorticity growth in solutions of Euler's equations in $ \scriptstyle{\mathbb{R}}^3$. We examine here the possible formation of such a structure in axisymmetric flow without swirl, leading to maximal growth of vorticity as $t^{4/3}$. Our study suggests that the optimizing flow giving the $t^{4/3}$ growth mimics an exact solution of Euler's equations representing an eroding toroidal vortex dipole which locally conserves kinetic energy. The dipole cross-section is a perturbation of the classical Sadovskii dipole having piecewise constant vorticity, which breaks the symmetry of closed streamlines. The structure of this perturbed Sadovskii dipole is analyzed asymptotically at large times, and its predicted properties are verified numerically.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Dissipative structures in a nonlinear dynamo

This paper considers magnetic field generation by a fluid flow in a system referred to as the Archontis dynamo: a steady nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) state is driven by a prescribed body force. The field and flow become almost equal and dissipation is concentrated in cigar-like structures centred on straight-line separatrices. Numerical scaling laws for energy and dissipation are given that extend previous calculations to smaller diffusivities. The symmetries of the dynamo are set out, together with their implications for the structure of field and flow along the separatrices. The scaling of the cigar-like dissipative regions, as the square root of the diffusivities, is explained by approximations near the separatrices. Rigorous results on the existence and smoothness of solutions to the steady, forced MHD equations are given.

nlin.CD↗