Bertrand Georgeot

Inertial waves in a rotating spherical shell: attractors and asymptotic spectrum

We investigate the asymptotic properties of inertial modes confined in a spherical shell when viscosity tends to zero. We first consider the mapping made by the characteristics of the hyperbolic equation (Poincares equation) satisfied by inviscid solutions. Characteristics are straight lines in a meridional section of the shell, and the mapping shows that, generically, these lines converge towards a periodic orbit which acts like an attractor (the associated Lyapunov exponent is always negative or zero). We show that these attractors exist in bands of frequencies the size of which decreases with the number of reflection points of the attractor. At the bounding frequencies the associated Lyapunov exponent is generically either zero or minus infinity. We further show that for a given frequency the number of coexisting attractors is finite. We then examine the relation between this characteristic path and eigensolutions of the inviscid problem and show that in a purely two-dimensional problem, convergence towards an attractor means that the associated velocity field is not square-integrable. We give arguments which generalize this result to three dimensions. Then, using a sphere immersed in a fluid filling the whole space, we study the critical latitude singularity and show that the velocity field diverges as 1/√ d , d being the distance to the characteristic grazing the inner sphere. We then consider the viscous problem and show how viscosity transforms singularities into internal shear layers which in general reveal an attractor expected at the eigenfrequency of the mode. Investigating the structure of these shear layers, we find that they are nested layers, the thinnest and most internal layer scaling with E 1/3 , E being the Ekman number; for this latter layer, we give its analytical form and show its similarity to vertical 1/3-shear layers of steady flows. Using an inertial wave packet travelling around an attractor, we give a lower bound on the thickness of shear layers and show how eigenfrequencies can be computed in principle. Finally, we show that as viscosity decreases, eigenfrequencies tend towards a set of values which is not dense in [0, 2Ω], contrary to the case of the full sphere (Ω is the angular velocity of the system). Hence, our geometrical approach opens the possibility of describing the eigenmodes and eigenvalues for astrophysical/geophysical Ekman numbers (10 −10 –10 −20 ), which are out of reach numerically, and this for a wide class of containers.

Quantum chaos border for quantum computing

We study a generic model of quantum computer, composed of many qubits coupled by short-range interaction. Above a critical interqubit coupling strength, quantum chaos sets in, leading to quantum ergodicity of the computer eigenstates. In this regime the noninteracting qubit structure disappears, the eigenstates become complex, and the operability of the computer is destroyed. Despite the fact that the spacing between multiqubit states drops exponentially with the number of qubits n, we show that the quantum chaos border decreases only linearly with n. This opens a broad parameter region where the efficient operation of a quantum computer remains possible.

Asymptotic analysis of high-frequency acoustic modes in rapidly rotating stars

The asteroseismology of rapidly rotating pulsating stars is hindered by our poor knowledge of the effect of the rotation on the oscillation properties. Here we present an asymptotic analysis of high-frequency acoustic modes in rapidly rotating stars. We study the Hamiltonian dynamics of acoustic rays in uniformly rotating polytropic stars and show that the phase space structure has a mixed character, regions of chaotic trajectories coexisting with stable structures like island chains or invariant tori. In order to interpret the ray dynamics in terms of acoustic mode properties, we then use tools and concepts developed in the context of quantum physics. Accordingly, the high-frequency acoustic spectrum is a superposition of frequency subsets associated with dynamically independent phase space regions. The sub-spectra associated with stable structures are regular and can be modelled through EBK quantization methods while those associated with chaotic regions are irregular but with generic statistical properties. The results of this asymptotic analysis are successfully confronted with the properties of numerically computed high-frequency acoustic modes. The implications for the asteroseismology of rapidly rotating stars are discussed.

Exponential Gain in Quantum Computing of Quantum Chaos and Localization

We present a quantum algorithm which simulates the quantum kicked rotator model exponentially faster than classical algorithms. This shows that important physical problems of quantum chaos, localization, and Anderson transition can be modeled efficiently on a quantum computer. We also show that a similar algorithm simulates efficiently classical chaos in certain area-preserving maps.

Analysis of singular inertial modes in a spherical shell: the slender toroidal shell model

We derive the asymptotic spectrum (as the Ekman number E! 0) of axisymmetric inertial modes when the problem is restricted to two dimensions. We show that the damping rate of such modes scales with the square root of the Ekman number and that the width of the shear layers of the eigenfunctions scales withE 1=4 . The eigenfunctions obey aS chrequation with a quadratic potential; we provide the analytical expression for eigenvalues (frequency and damping rate). These results validate the picture that attractors act like a potential well, trapping inertial waves which resist connement owing to viscosity. Using three-dimensional numerical solutions, we show that the results can be applied to equatorially trapped modes in a thin spherical shell; in fact, these two-dimensional solutions give the rst step (the zeroth order) of a perturbative approach to three-dimensional solutions in a spherical shell. Our method is applicable in a straightforward way to any other container where bi-dimensionality dominates.

Wave Attractors in Rotating Fluids: A Paradigm for Ill-Posed Cauchy Problems

In the limit of low viscosity, we show that the amplitude of the modes of oscillation of a rotating fluid, namely inertial modes, concentrate along an attractor formed by a periodic orbit of characteristics of the underlying hyperbolic Poincare equation. The dynamics of characteristics is used to elaborate a scenario for the asymptotic behavior of the eigenmodes and eigenspectrum in the physically relevant regime of very low viscosities which are out of reach numerically. This problem offers a canonical ill-posed Cauchy problem which has applications in other fields.

Wave chaos in rapidly rotating stars

The effects of rapid stellar rotation on acoustic oscillation modes are poorly understood. We study the dynamics of acoustic rays in rotating polytropic stars and show using quantum chaos concepts that the eigenfrequency spectrum is a superposition of regular frequency patterns and an irregular frequency subset respectively associated with near-integrable and chaotic phase space regions. This opens fresh perspectives for rapidly rotating star seismology and also provides a potentially observable manifestation of wave chaos in a large-scale natural system.

Basin entropy: a new tool to analyze uncertainty in dynamical systems

In nonlinear dynamics, basins of attraction link a given set of initial conditions to its corresponding final states. This notion appears in a broad range of applications where several outcomes are possible, which is a common situation in neuroscience, economy, astronomy, ecology and many other disciplines. Depending on the nature of the basins, prediction can be difficult even in systems that evolve under deterministic rules. From this respect, a proper classification of this unpredictability is clearly required. To address this issue, we introduce the basin entropy, a measure to quantify this uncertainty. Its application is illustrated with several paradigmatic examples that allow us to identify the ingredients that hinder the prediction of the final state. The basin entropy provides an efficient method to probe the behavior of a system when different parameters are varied. Additionally, we provide a sufficient condition for the existence of fractal basin boundaries: when the basin entropy of the boundaries is larger than log2, the basin is fractal.

Breit-Wigner Width and Inverse Participation Ratio in Finite Interacting Fermi Systems

For many-body Fermi systems we determine the dependence of the Breit-Wigner width and inverse participation ratio (IPR) on interaction strength U > Uc and energy excitation dE > dE_ch when a crossover from Poisson to Wigner-Dyson P(s)-statistics takes place. At U > Uc the eigenstates are composed of a large number of noninteracting states and even for U > 1.

Quantum computing of delocalization in small-world networks.

We study a quantum small-world network with disorder and show that the system exhibits a delocalization transition. A quantum algorithm is built up which simulates the evolution operator of the model in a polynomial number of gates for an exponential number of vertices in the network. The total computational gain is shown to depend on the parameters of the network and a larger than quadratic speedup can be reached. We also investigate the robustness of the algorithm in presence of imperfections.