arXiv subjects

Martine Le Berre

Publications and source records attributed to Martine Le Berre.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Dynamics of self-gravitating systems : Variations on a theme by Michel Henon

In this contribution to the volume in memoriam of Michel Henon, we thought appropriate to look at his early scientific work devoted to the dynamics of large assemblies of interacting masses. He predicted in his PhD thesis that, in such a system, first a collapse of mass occurs at the center and that later binaries stars are formed there. Henceforth, the negative energy of binding of pairs becomes a source of positive energy for the rest of the cluster which evaporate because of that. We examine under what conditions such a singularity can occur, and what could happen afterwards. We hope to show that this fascinating problem of evolution of self-gravitating clusters keeps its interest after the many years passed since Henon thesis, and is still worth discussing now.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Supernovae: an example of complexity in the physics of compressible fluids

The supernovae are typical complex phenomena in fluid mechanics with very different time scales. We describe them in the light of catastrophe theory, assuming that successive equilibria between pressure and gravity present a saddle-node bifurcation. In the early stage we show that the loss of equilibrium may be described by a generic equation of the Painlevé I form. In the final stage of the collapse, just before the divergence of the central density, we show that the existence of a self-similar collapsing solution compatible with the numerical observations imposes that the gravity forces are stronger than the pressure ones. This situation differs drastically in its principle from the one generally admitted where pressure and gravity forces are assumed to be of the same order. Our new self-similar solution (based on the hypothesis of dominant gravity forces) which matches the smooth solution of the outer core solution, agrees globally well with our numerical results. Whereas some differences with the earlier self-similar solutions are minor, others are very important. For example, we find that the velocity field becomes singular at the collapse time, diverging at the center, and decreasing slowly outside the core, whereas previous works described a finite velocity field in the core which tends to a supersonic constant value at large distances. This discrepancy should be important for explaining the emission of remnants in the post-collapse regime. Finally we describe the post-collapse dynamics, when mass begins to accumulate in the center, also within the hypothesis that gravity forces are dominant.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Degenerate ground state and quantum tunneling in rotating condensates

Quantum tunneling introduces a fundamental difference between classical and quantum mechanics. Whenever the classical ground state is non-unique (degenerate), quantum mechanics restore uniqueness thanks to tunneling. A condensate in a rotating trap with a vortex can have such a degenerate classical ground state, a degeneracy that is excluded in the absence of rotation at least when the Gross-Pitaevskii equation applies. If the rotating trap has a center of symmetry, like a figure eight (a peanut), the vortex may be on either side with the same energy yielding a degenerate ground state, a degeneracy lifted by quantum tunneling. We explain how to compute the rate of tunneling in the WKB limit by estimating the action of the trajectory in the Euclidean version of the dynamics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2012

The Leidenfrost effect: from quasi-spherical droplets to puddles

In the framework of the lubrication approximation, we derive a set of equations describing the steady bottom profile of Leidenfrost drops coupled with the vapor pressure. This allows to derive scaling laws for the geometry of the concave bubble encapsulated between the drop and the hot plate under it. The results agree with experimental observations in the case of droplets with radii smaller than the capillary length Rc as well as in the case of puddles with radii larger than Rc.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Prediction of Catastrophes: an experimental model

Catastrophes of all kinds can be roughly defined as short duration-large amplitude events following and followed by long periods of "ripening". Major earthquakes surely belong to the class of 'catastrophic' events. Because of the space-time scales involved, an experimental approach is often difficult, not to say impossible, however desirable it could be. Described in this article is a "laboratory" setup that yields data of a type that is amenable to theoretical methods of prediction. Observations are made of a critical slowing down in the noisy signal of a solder wire creeping under constant stress. This effect is shown to be a fair signal of the forthcoming catastrophe in both of two dynamical models. The first is an "abstract" model in which a time dependent quantity drifts slowly but makes quick jumps from time to time. The second is a realistic physical model for the collective motion of dislocations (the Ananthakrishna set of equations for creep). Hope thus exists that similar changes in the response to noise could forewarn catastrophes in other situations, where such precursor effects should manifest early enough.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2011

Critical speed-up vs critical slow-down: a new kind of relaxation oscillation with application to stick-slip phenomena

The equations for the sliding of a single block driven by an elastic force show numerically a fast and a slow step in their dynamics when a dimensionless parameter is very large, a limit pertinent for many applications. An asymptotic analysis of the solutions explains well the two sharply different steps of the stick-slip dynamics. The stick (slow) part takes place along a slow manifold in the phase space. But, in contrast with standard relaxation dynamics (of van der Pol type), the slow manifold is always formally attracting and the transition from slow to fast dynamics occurs because the slow dynamics has a finite time singularity breaking the assumption of slowness. This makes a new kind of relaxation oscillation. We show that the response of the stick-slip system to an external noise displays a progressive speed-up before the transition, in contrast with the well known critical slowing-down observed in the standard case.

physics.geo-ph↗

arXiv2011

Fortelling catastrophes?

A generic saddle-node bifurcation is proposed to modelize fast transitions of finite amplitude arising in geophysical (and perhaps other) contexts, when they result from the intrinsic dynamics of the system. The fast transition is generically preceded by a precursor phase which is less rapid, that we characterize. In this model, if an external source of noise exist, the correlation length of the fluctuations increases before the transition, and its spectrum tends to drift towards lower frequencies. This change in the fluctuations could be a way of detecting catastrophic events before they happen.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2010

A non-equilibrium system in a steady state: wind waves in the open ocean

We derive scaling laws for the steady spectrum of wind excited waves, assuming two inviscid fluids (air and water) and no surface tension, an approximation valid at large speeds. In this limit there exists an unique (small) dimensionless parameter $ε$, the ratio of the mass densities of the two fluids, air and water, independently of the wind speed. The smallness of $ε$ allows to derive some important average properties of the wave system. The average square slope of the waves is of order $|ln (ε^2)|^{-1}$, a small but not very small quantity. This supports the often used assumption of small nonlinearity in the wave-wave interaction. We introduce an equation to be satisfied by the two-point correlation of the height fluctuations.

physics.flu-dyn↗