arXiv subjects

Thierry Dauxois

Publications and source records attributed to Thierry Dauxois.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Breaking of internal waves parametrically excited by ageostrophic anticyclonic instability

A gradient-wind balanced flow with an elliptic streamline parametrically excites internal inertia-gravity waves through ageostrophic anticyclonic instability (AAI). This study numerically investigates the breaking of internal waves and the following turbulence generation resulting from the AAI. In our simulation, we periodically distort the calculation domain following the streamlines of an elliptic vortex and integrate the equations of motion using a Fourier spectral method. This technique enables us to exclude the overall structure of the large-scale vortex from the computation and concentrate on resolving the small-scale waves and turbulence. From a series of experiments, we identify two different scenarios of wave breaking conditioned on the magnitude of the instability growth rate scaled by the buoyancy frequency, $λ/N$. First, when $λ/N\gtrsim0.008$, the primary wave amplitude excited by AAI quickly goes far beyond the overturning threshold and directly breaks. The resulting state is thus strongly nonlinear turbulence. Second, if $λ/N\lesssim0.008$, weak wave-wave interactions begin to redistribute energy across frequency space before the primary wave reaches a breaking limit. Then, after a sufficiently long time, the system approaches a Garrett-Munk-like stationary spectrum, in which wave breaking occurs at finer vertical scales. Throughout the experimental conditions, the growth and decay time scales of the primary wave energy are well correlated. However, since the primary wave amplitude reaches a prescribed limit in one scenario but not in the other, the energy dissipation rates exhibit two types of scaling properties. This scaling classification has similarities and differences with D'Asaro and Lien's (2000) wave-turbulence transition model.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2022

Fractional Dynamics and Modulational Instability in Long-Range Heisenberg Chains

We study the effective dynamics of ferromagnetic spin chains in presence of long-range interactions. We consider the Heisenberg Hamiltonian in one dimension for which the spins are coupled through power-law long-range exchange interactions with exponent $α$. We add to the Hamiltonian an anisotropy in the $z$-direction. In the framework of a semiclassical approach, we use the Holstein-Primakoff transformation to derive an effective long-range discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We then perform the continuum limit and we obtain a fractional nonlinear Schrödinger-like equation. Finally, we study the modulational instability of plane-waves in the continuum limit and we prove that, at variance with the short-range case, plane waves are modulationally unstable for $α< 3$. We also study the dependence of the modulation instability growth rate and critical wave-number on the parameters of the Hamiltonian and on the exponent $α$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2021

Three-dimensionality of the triadic resonance instability of a plane inertial wave

We analyze theoretically and experimentally the triadic resonance instability (TRI) of a plane inertial wave in a rotating fluid. Building on the classical triadic interaction equations between helical modes, we show by numerical integration that the maximum growth rate of the TRI is found for secondary waves that do not propagate in the same vertical plane as the primary wave (the rotation axis is parallel to the vertical). In the inviscid limit, we prove this result analytically, in which case the change in the horizontal propagation direction induced by the TRI evolves from $60^\circ$ to $90^\circ$ depending on the frequency of the primary wave. Thanks to a wave generator with a large spatial extension in the horizontal direction of invariance of the forced wave, we are able to report experimental evidence that the TRI of a plane inertial wave is three-dimensional. The wavevectors of the secondary waves produced by the TRI are shown to match the theoretical predictions based on the maximum growth rate criterion. These results reveal that the triadic resonant interactions between inertial waves are very efficient at redistributing energy in the horizontal plane, normal to the rotation axis.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Vortex cluster arising from an axisymmetric inertial wave attractor

We present an experimental study of the saturated non-linear dynamics of an inertial wave attractor in an axisymmetric geometrical setting. The experiments are carried out in a rotating ring-shaped fluid domain delimited by two vertical coaxial cylinders, a conical bottom, and a horizontal deformable upper lid as wave generator: the meridional cross-section of the fluid volume is a trapezium, while the horizontal cross-section is a ring. First, the fluid is set into a rigid-body rotation. Thereafter, forcing is introduced into the system via axisymmetric low-amplitude volume-conserving oscillatory motion of the upper lid. After a short transient of about 10 forcing periods, a quasi-linear regime is established, with an axisymmetric inertial wave attractor. The attractor is prone to instability: at long time-scale (order 100 forcing periods) a saturated fully non-linear regime develops as a consequence of an energy cascade draining energy towards a slow two-dimensional manifold represented by a regular polygonal system of axially-oriented cyclonic vortices that are slowly precessing around the inner cylinder. We show that this slow two-dimensional manifold manifests a persistent slow prograde motion and a strong cyclonic-anticyclonic asymmetry quantified by the time-evolution of the probability density function of the vertical vorticity.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Succession of resonances to achieve internal wave turbulence

We study experimentally the interaction of nonlinear internal waves in a stratified fluid confined in a trapezoidal tank. The set-up has been designed to produce internal wave turbulence from monochromatic and polychromatic forcing through three processes. The first is a linear transfer in wavelength obtained by wave reflection on inclined slopes, leading to an internal wave attractor which has a broad wavenumber spectrum. Second is the broad banded time-frequency spectrum of the trapezoidal geometry, as shown by the impulse response of the system. The third one is a nonlinear transfer in frequencies and wavevectors via triadic interactions, which results at large forcing amplitudes in a power law decay of the wavenumber power spectrum. This first experimental spectrum of internal wave turbulence displays a $k^{-3}$ behavior.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2020

Effective negative specific heat by destabilization of metastable states in dipolar systems

We study dipolarly coupled three dimensional spin systems in both the microcanonical and the canonical ensembles by introducing appropriate numerical methods to determine the microcanonical temperature and by realizing a canonical model of heat bath. In the microcanonical ensemble, we show the existence of a branch of stable antiferromagnetic states in the low energy region. Other metastable ferromagnetic states exist in this region: by externally perturbing them, an effective negative specific heat is obtained. In the canonical ensemble, for low temperatures, the same metastable states are unstable and reach a new branch of more robust metastable states which is distinct from the stable one. Our statistical physics approach allows us to put some order in the complex structure of stable and metastable states of dipolar systems.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Internal Wave Attractors in 3D Geometries : a dynamical systems approach

We study the propagation in three dimensions of internal waves using ray tracing methods and traditional dynamical systems theory. The wave propagation on a cone that generalizes the Saint Andrew's cross justifies the introduction of an angle of propagation that allows to describe the position of the wave ray in the horizontal plane. Considering the evolution of this reflection angle for waves that repeatedly reflect off an inclined slope, a new trapping mechanism emerges that displays the tendency to align this angle with the upslope gradient. In the rather simple geometry of a translationally invariant canal, we show first that this configuration leads to trapezium-shaped attractors, very similar to what has been extensively studied in two-dimensions. However, we also establish a direct link between the trapping and the existence of two-dimensional attractors. In a second stage, considering a geometry that is not translationally invariant, closer to realistic configurations, we prove that although there are no two-dimensional attractors, one can find a structure in three-dimensional space with properties similar to internal wave attractors: a one-dimensional attracting manifold. Moreover, as this structure is unique, it should be easy to visualize in laboratory experiments since energy injected in the domain would eventually be confined to a very thin region in three-dimensional space, for which reason it is called a super-attractor.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Energy budget in internal wave attractors experiment

The current paper presents an experimental study of the energy budget of a two-dimensional internal wave attractor in a trapezoidal domain filled with uniformly stratified fluid. The injected energy flux and the dissipation rate are simultaneously measured from a \ch{two-dimensional, two components,} experimental velocity field. The pressure perturbation field needed to quantify the injected energy is determined from the linear inviscid theory. The dissipation rate in the bulk of the domain is directly computed from the measurements, while the energy sink occurring in the boundary layers are estimated using the theoretical expression of the velocity field in the boundary layers, derived recently by Beckebanze et al. (J. Fluid Mech. 841, 614 (2018)). In the linear regime, we show that the energy budget is closed, in the steady-state and also in the transient regime, by taking into account the bulk dissipation and, more important, the dissipation in the boundary layers without any adjustable parameters. The dependence of the different sources on the thickness of the experimental set-up is also discussed. In the nonlinear regime, the analysis is extended by estimating the dissipation due to the secondary waves generated by triadic resonant instabilities showing the importance of the energy transfer from large scales to small scales. The method tested here on internal wave attractors can be generalized straightforwardly to any quasi two-dimensional stratified flow.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

Elimination of thermal bistability in superconducting weak links by an inductive shunt

The quantum phase-coherent behavior of superconducting weak links (WL) is often quenched in the finite voltage state, due to the heat dissipation and related thermal hysteresis. The latter can be reduced by improving heat evacuation and/or by lowering the critical current, so that a phase-dynamic regime is obtained, albeit over a narrow bias-current and temperature range. Here we demonstrate that an inductive shunt with well-chosen parameters introduces unexpected nonlinear dynamics that destabilize an otherwise stable fixed point in the dissipative branch. This leads to a nonhysteretic behavior with large voltage oscillations in intrinsically hysteretic WL-based micron-size superconducting quantum interference devices. A dynamic thermal model quantitatively describes our observations and further allows us to elaborate on the optimal shunting conditions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Pulse solutions of the fractional effective models of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice with long-range interactions

We study analytical solutions of the Fractional Boussinesq Equation (FBE), which is an effective model for the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) one-dimensional lattice with long-range couplings. The couplings decay as a power-law with exponent s, with 1 < s < 3, so that the energy density is finite, but s is small enough to observe genuine long-range effects. The analytic solutions are obtained by introducing an ansatz for the dependence of the field on space and time. This allows to reduce the FBE to an ordinary differential equation, which can be explicitly solved. The solutions are initially localized and they delocalize progressively as time evolves. Depending on the value of s the solution is either a pulse (meaning a bump) or an anti-pulse (i.e., a hole) on a constant field for 1 < s < 2 and 2 < s < 3, respectively.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Differences in the scaling laws of canonical and microcanonical coarsening dynamics for long-range interacting systems

We investigate the effects of Hamiltonian and Langevin microscopic dynamics on the growth laws of domains in coarsening. Using a one-dimensional class of generalized $ϕ^4$ models with power-law decaying interactions, we show that the two dynamics exhibit scaling regimes characterized by different scaling laws for the coarsening dynamics. For Langevin dynamics, it concurs with the exponent of defect dynamics, while Hamiltonian dynamics reveals new scaling laws with distinct early-time and a late-time regimes. This new behaviour can be understood as an effect of energy conservation, which induces a coupling between the dynamics of the local temperature field and of the order parameter.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Linear and nonlinear regimes of an inertial wave attractor

We present an experimental analysis of the linear and non-linear regimes of an attractor of inertial waves in a trapezoidal cavity under rotation. Varying the rotation rate and the forcing amplitude and wavelength, we identify the scaling laws followed by the attractor amplitude and wavelength in both regimes. In particular, we show that the non-linear scaling laws can be well described by replacing the fluid viscosity in the linear model by a turbulent viscosity, a result that could help extrapolating attractor theory to geo/astrophysically relevant situations. We further study the triadic resonance instability of the attractor which is at the origin of the turbulent viscosity. We show that the typical frequencies of the subharmonic waves produced by the instability behaves very differently from previously reported numerical results and from the prediction of the theory of triadic resonance. This behavior might be related to the deviation from horizontal invariance of the attractor in our experiment in relation with the presence of vertical walls of the cavity, an effect that should be at play in all practical situations.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Mixing and formation of layers by internal wave forcing

The energy pathways from propagating internal waves to the scales of irreversible mixing in the ocean are not fully described. In the ocean interior, the triadic resonant instability is an intrinsic destabilization process that may enhance the energy cascade away from topographies. The present study focuses on the integrated impact of mixing processes induced by a propagative normal mode-1 over long term experiments in an idealised setup. The internal wave dynamics and the evolution of the density profile are followed using the light attenuation technique. Diagnostics of the turbulent diffusivity $K_{T}$ and background potential energy $BPE$ are provided. Mixing effects result in a partially mixed layer colocated with the region of maximum shear induced by the forcing normal mode. The maximum measured turbulent diffusivity is 250 times larger than the molecular value, showing that diapycnal mixing is largely enhanced by small scale turbulent processes. Intermittency and reversible energy transfers are discussed to bridge the gap between the present diagnostic and the larger values measured in Dossmann et al, Experiments in Fluids, 57(8), 132 (2016). The mixing efficiency $η$ is assessed by relating the $BPE$ growth to the linearized $KE$ input. One finds a value of $Γ=12-19\%$ larger than the mixing efficiency in the case of breaking interfacial wave. After several hours of forcing, the development of staircases in the density profile is observed. This mechanism has been previously observed in experiments with weak homogeneous turbulence and explained by argument. The present experiments suggest that internal wave forcing could also induce the formation of density interfaces in the ocean.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Traveling Solitons in Long-Range Oscillator Chains

We investigate the existence and propagation of solitons in a long-range extension of the quartic Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) chain of anharmonic oscillators. The coupling in the linear term decays as a power-law with an exponent greater than 1 and less than 3. We obtain an analytic perturbative expression of traveling envelope solitons by introducing a Non Linear Schrodinger (NLS) equation for the slowly varying amplitude of short wavelength modes. Due to the non analytic properties of the dispersion relation, it is crucial to develop the theory using discrete difference operators. Those properties are also the ultimate reason why kink-solitons may exist but are unstable, at variance with the short-range FPU model. We successfully compare these approximate analytic results with numerical simulations.

nlin.PS↗

arXiv2017

Internal wave attractors: different scenarios of instability

This paper presents an experimental study of different instability scenarios in a parallelogram-shaped internal wave attractor in a trapezoidal domain filled with a uniformly stratified fluid. Energy is injected into the system via the oscillatory motion of a vertical wall of the trapezoidal domain. Whole-field velocity measurements are performed with the conventional PIV technique. In the linear regime, the total kinetic energyof the fluid system is used to quantify the strength of attractors as a function of coordinates in the parameter spacedefining their zone of existence, the so-called Arnold tongue. In the nonlinear regime, the choice of the operational point in the Arnold tongue is shown to have a significant impact on the scenario of the onset of triadic instability, most notably on the influence of confinement on secondary waves. The onset of triadic resonance instability may occur as a spatially localized event similar to Scolan, Ermanyuk and Dauxois (2013) in the case of strong focusing or in form of growing normal modes as in McEwan (1971) for the limiting case of rectangular domain. In the present paper, we describe also a new intermediate scenario for the case of weak focusing. We explore the long-term behaviour of cascades of triadic instabilities in wave attractors and show a persistent trend toward formation of standing-wave patterns corresponding to some discrete peaks of the frequency spectrum. At sufficiently high level of energy injection the system exhibits a "mixing box" regime which has certain qualitatively universal properties regardless to the choiceof the operating point in the Arnold tongue. In particular, for this regime, we observe a statisticsof events with high horizontal vorticity, which serve as kinematic indicators of mixing.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Instabilities of Internal Gravity Wave Beams

Internal gravity waves play a primary role in geophysical fluids: they contribute significantly to mixing in the ocean and they redistribute energy and momentum in the middle atmosphere. Until recently, most studies were focused on plane wave solutions. However, these solutions are not a satisfactory description of most geophysical manifestations of internal gravity waves, and it is now recognized that internal wave beams with a confined profile are ubiquitous in the geophysical context. We will discuss the reason for the ubiquity of wave beams in stratified fluids, related to the fact that they are solutions of the nonlinear governing equations. We will focus more specifically on situations with a constant buoyancy frequency. Moreover, in light of recent experimental and analytical studies of internal gravity beams, it is timely to discuss the two main mechanisms of instability for those beams. i) The Triadic Resonant Instability generating two secondary wave beams. ii) The streaming instability corresponding to the spontaneous generation of a mean flow.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2016

Out-of-equilibrium fluctuations in stochastic long-range interacting systems

For a many-particle system with long-range interactions and evolving under stochastic dynamics, we study for the first time the out-of-equilibrium fluctuations of the work done on the system by a time-dependent external force. For equilibrium initial conditions, the work distributions for a given protocol of variation of the force in time and the corresponding time-reversed protocol exhibit a remarkable scaling and a symmetry when expressed in terms of the average and the standard deviation of the work. The distributions of the work per particle predict, by virtue of the Crooks fluctuation theorem, the equilibrium free-energy density of the system. For a large number $N$ of particles, the latter is in excellent agreement with the value computed by considering the Langevin dynamics of a single particle in a self-consistent mean field generated by its interaction with other particles. The agreement highlights the effective mean-field nature of the original many-particle dynamics for large $N$. For initial conditions in non-equilibrium steady states (NESSs), we study the distribution of a quantity similar to dissipated work that satisfies the non-equilibrium generalization of the Clausius inequality, namely, the Hatano-Sasa equality, for transitions between NESSs. Besides illustrating the validity of the equality, we show that the distribution has exponential tails that decay differently on the left and on the right.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2016

Internal wave attractors examined using laboratory experiments and 3D numerical simulations

In the present paper, we combine numerical and experimental approaches to study the dynamics of stable and unstable internal wave attractors. The problem is considered in a classic trapezoidal setup filled with a uniformly stratified fluid. Energy is injected into the system at global scale by the small-amplitude motion of a vertical wall. Wave motion in the test tank is measured with the help of conventional synthetic schlieren and PIV techniques. The numerical setup closely reproduces the experimental one in terms of geometry and the operational range of the Reynolds and Schmidt numbers. The spectral element method is used as a numerical tool to simulate the nonlinear dynamics of a viscous salt-stratified fluid. We show that the results of three-dimensional calculations are in excellent qualitative and quantitative agreement with the experimental data, including the spatial and temporal parameters of the secondary waves produced by triadic resonance instability. Further, we explore experimentally and numerically the effect of lateral walls on secondary currents and spanwise distribution of velocity amplitudes in the wave beams. Finally, we test the assumption of a bidimensional flow and estimate the error made in synthetic schlieren measurements due to this assumption.

physics.flu-dyn↗