Mahieddine Adim | Searcharxiv

arXiv2024

Relaxing the sharp density stratification and columnar motion assumptions in layered shallow water systems

We rigorously justify the bilayer shallow-water system as an approximation to the hydrostatic Euler equations in situations where the flow is density-stratified with close-to-piecewise constant density profiles, and close-to-columnar velocity profiles. Our theory accommodates with continuous stratification, so that admissible deviations from bilayer profiles are not pointwise small. This leads us to define refined approximate solutions that are able to describe at first order the flow in the pycnocline. Because the hydrostatic Euler equations are not known to enjoy suitable stability estimates, we rely on thickness-diffusivity contributions proposed by Gent and McWilliams. Our strategy also applies to one-layer and multilayer frameworks.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

Approximating a continuously stratified hydrostatic system by the multi-layer shallow water system

In this article we consider the multi-layer shallow water system for the propagation of gravity waves in density-stratified flows, with additional terms introduced by the oceanographers Gent and McWilliams in order to take into account large-scale isopycnal diffusivity induced by small-scale unresolved eddies. We establish a bridge between the multi-layer shallow water system and the corresponding system for continuously stratified flows, that is the incompressible Euler equations with eddy-induced diffusivity under the hydrostatic approximation. Specifically we prove that, under an assumption of stable stratification, sufficiently regular solutions to the incompressible Euler equations can be approximated by solutions to multi-layer shallow water systems as the number of layers, $N$, increases. Moreover, we provide a convergence rate of order $1/N^2$. A key ingredient in the proof is a stability estimate for the multi-layer system which relies on suitable energy estimates mimicking the ones recently established by Bianchini and Duchêne on the continuously stratified system. This requires to compile a dictionary that translates continuous operations (differentiation, integration, etc.) into corresponding discrete operations.

math.AP↗