Cédric Beaume

Homoclinic snaking of localized states in doubly diffusive convection

Numerical continuation is used to investigate stationary spatially localized states in two-dimensional thermosolutal convection in a plane horizontal layer with no-slip boundary conditions at top and bottom. Convectons in the form of 1-pulse and 2-pulse states of both odd and even parity exhibit homoclinic snaking in a common Rayleigh number regime. In contrast to similar states in binary fluid convection, odd parity convectons do not pump concentration horizontally. Stable but time-dependent localized structures are present for Rayleigh numbers below the snaking region for stationary convectons. The computations are carried out for (inverse) Lewis number τ = 1/15 and Prandtl numbers Pr = 1 and Pr≫1.

Convectons and secondary snaking in three-dimensional natural doubly diffusive convection

Natural doubly diffusive convection in a three-dimensional vertical enclosure with square cross-section in the horizontal is studied. Convection is driven by imposed temperature and concentration differences between two opposite vertical walls. These are chosen such that a pure conduction state exists. No-flux boundary conditions are imposed on the remaining four walls, with no-slip boundary conditions on all six walls. Numerical continuation is used to compute branches of spatially localized convection. Such states are referred to as convectons. Two branches of three-dimensional convectons with full symmetry bifurcate simultaneously from the conduction state and undergo homoclinic snaking. Secondary bifurcations on the primary snaking branches generate secondary snaking branches of convectons with reduced symmetry. The results are complemented with direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional equations.

Reduced description of exact coherent states in parallel shear flows.

A reduced description of exact coherent structures in the transition regime of plane parallel shear flows is developed, based on the Reynolds number scaling of streamwise-averaged (mean) and streamwise-varying (fluctuation) velocities observed in numerical simulations. The resulting system is characterized by an effective unit Reynolds number mean equation coupled to linear equations for the fluctuations, regularized by formally higher-order diffusion. Stationary coherent states are computed by solving the resulting equations simultaneously using a robust numerical algorithm developed for this purpose. The algorithm determines self-consistently the amplitude of the fluctuations for which the associated mean flow is just such that the fluctuations neither grow nor decay. The procedure is used to compute exact coherent states of a flow introduced by Drazin and Reid [Hydrodynamic Stability (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1981)] and studied by Waleffe [Phys. Fluids 9, 883 (1997)]: a linearly stable, plane parallel shear flow confined between stationary stress-free walls and driven by a sinusoidal body force. Numerical continuation of the lower-branch states to lower Reynolds numbers reveals the presence of a saddle node; the saddle node allows access to upper-branch states that are, like the lower-branch states, self-consistently described by the reduced equations. Both lower- and upper-branch states are characterized in detail.

Localized states in periodically forced systems.

The theory of stationary spatially localized patterns in dissipative systems driven by time-independent forcing is well developed. With time-periodic forcing, related but time-dependent structures may result. These may consist of breathing localized patterns, or states that grow for part of the cycle via nucleation of new wavelengths of the pattern followed by wavelength annihilation during the remainder of the cycle. These two competing processes lead to a complex phase diagram whose structure is a consequence of a series of resonances between the nucleation time and the forcing period. The resulting diagram is computed for the periodically forced quadratic-cubic Swift-Hohenberg equation, and its details are interpreted in terms of the properties of the depinning transition for the fronts bounding the localized state on either side. The results are expected to shed light on localized states in a large variety of periodically driven systems.

Localized rotating convection with no-slip boundary conditions

Localized patches of stationary convection embedded in a background conduction state are called convectons. Multiple states of this type have recently been found in two-dimensional Boussinesq convection in a horizontal fluid layer with stress-free boundary conditions at top and bottom, and rotating about the vertical. The convectons differ in their lengths and in the strength of the self-generated shear within which they are embedded, and exhibit slanted snaking. We use homotopic continuation of the boundary conditions to show that similar structures exist in the presence of no-slip boundary conditions at the top and bottom of the layer and show that such structures exhibit standard snaking. The homotopic continuation allows us to study the transformation from slanted snaking characteristic of systems with a conserved quantity, here the zonal momentum, to standard snaking characteristic of systems with no conserved quantity.

Nonsnaking doubly diffusive convectons and the twist instability

Doubly diffusive convection in a three-dimensional horizontally extended domain with a square cross section in the vertical is considered. The fluid motion is driven by horizontal temperature and concentration differences in the transverse direction. When the buoyancy ratio N = -1 and the Rayleigh number is increased the conduction state loses stability to a subcritical, almost two-dimensional roll structure localized in the longitudinal direction. This structure exhibits abrupt growth in length near a particular value of the Rayleigh number but does not snake. Prior to this filling transition the structure becomes unstable to a secondary twist instability generating a pair of stationary, spatially localized zigzag states. In contrast to the primary branch these states snake as they grow in extent and eventually fill the whole domain. The origin of the twist instability and the properties of the resulting localized structures are investigated for both periodic and no-slip boundary conditions in the extended direction.

A New Resonance Mechanism in the Swift-Hohenberg Equation with Time-Periodic Forcing ∗

The generalized Swift-Hohenberg equation with a quadratic-cubic nonlinearity is used to study the persistence and decay of localized patterns in the presence of time-periodic parametric forcing. A novel resonance phenomenon between the forcing period and the time required to nucleate one wavelength of the pattern outside the pinning region is identified. The resonance generates distinct regions in parameter space characterized by the net number of wavelengths gained or lost in one forcing cycle. These regions are well described by an asymptotic theory based on the wavelength nucleation/annihilation time near the boundaries of the pinning region. The resulting theory leads to predictions that are qualitatively correct and, in some cases, provide quantitative agreement with numerical simulations.

Time-periodic forcing of spatially localized structures

We study localized states in the Swift–Hohenberg equation when time-periodic parametric forcing is introduced. The presence of a time-dependent forcing introduces a new characteristic time which creates a series of resonances with the depinning time of the fronts bounding the localized pattern. The organization of these resonances in parameter space can be understood using appropriate asymptotics. A number of distinct canard trajectories involved in the observed transitions is constructed.

Electrolyte Stability in a Nanochannel with Charge Regulation

The stability of an electrolyte confined in one dimension between two solid surfaces is analyzed theoretically in the case where overlapping double layers produce nontrivial interactions. Within the Poisson-Boltzmann-Nernst-Planck description of the electrostatic interaction and transport of electrical charges, the presence of Stern layers can enrich the set of possible solutions. Our analytical and numerical study of the stability properties of the trivial state of this system identified an instability to a new antisymmetric state. This state is stable for a range of gap widths that depends on the Debye and Stern lengths, but for smaller gap widths, where the Stern layers overlap, a second transition takes place and the stable nontrivial solution diverges. The origin of this divergence is explained and its properties analyzed using asymptotic techniques which are in good agreement with numerical results. The relevance of our results to confined electrolytes at nanometer scales is discussed in the context of energy storage in nanometric systems.

Modulated patterns in a reduced model of a transitional shear flow

We consider a close relative of plane Couette flow called Waleffe flow in which the fluid is confined between two free-slip walls and the flow driven by a sinusoidal force. We use a reduced model of such flows constructed elsewhere to compute stationary exact coherent structures of Waleffe flow in periodic domains with a large spanwise period. The computations reveal the emergence of stationary states exhibiting strong amplitude and wavelength modulation in the spanwise direction. These modulated states lie on branches exhibiting complex dependence on the Reynolds number but no homoclinic snaking.