Cédric Beaume

The Adler equation with time-periodic frequency modulation is studied. A series of resonances between the period of the frequency modulation and the time scale for the generation of a phase slip is identified. The resulting parameter space structure is determined using a combination of numerical continuation, time simulations and asymptotic methods. Regions with an integer number of phase slips per period are separated by regions with noninteger numbers of phase slips, and include canard trajectories that drift along unstable equilibria. Both high and low frequency modulation is considered. An adiabatic description of the low frequency modulation regime is found to be accurate over a large range of modulation periods.

This paper describes an adaptive preconditioner for numerical continuation of incompressible Navier--Stokes flows. The preconditioner maps the identity (no preconditioner) to the Stokes preconditioner (preconditioning by Laplacian) through a continuous parameter and is built on a first order Euler time-discretization scheme. The preconditioner is tested onto two fluid configurations: three-dimensional doubly diffusive convection and a reduced model of shear flows. In the former case, Stokes preconditioning works but a mixed preconditioner is preferred. In the latter case, the system of equation is split and solved simultaneously using two different preconditioners, one of which is parameter dependent. Due to the nature of these applications, this preconditioner is expected to help a wide range of studies.

The Adler equation with time-periodic frequency modulation is studied. A series of resonances between the period of the frequency modulation and the time scale for the generation of a phase slip is identified. The resulting parameter space structure is determined using a combination of numerical continuation, time simulations, and asymptotic methods. Regions with an integer number of phase slips per period are separated by regions with noninteger numbers of phase slips and include canard trajectories that drift along unstable equilibria. Both high- and low-frequency modulation is considered. An adiabatic description of the low-frequency modulation regime is found to be accurate over a large range of modulation periods.

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.

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.

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.

Exact coherent states of a linearly stable, plane parallel shear flow confined between stationary stress-free walls and driven by a sinusoidal body force (a flow first introduced by F. Waleffe, Phys. Fluids 9, 883 (1997)) are computed using equations obtained from a large Reynolds-number asymptotic reduction of the Navier-Stokes equations. The reduced equations employ a decomposition into streamwise-averaged (mean) and streamwise-varying (fluctuation) components and are characterized by an effective order one Reynolds number in the mean equations along with a formally higher-order diffusive regularization of the fluctuation equations. A robust numerical algorithm for computing exact coherent states is introduced. 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, like the lower branch states, appear to be self-consistently described by the reduced equations. Both lower and upper branch states are characterized in detail.

A reduced description of shear flows consistent with the Reynolds number scaling of lower-branch exact coherent states in plane Couette flow [J. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 204501 (2007)] is constructed. Exact time-independent nonlinear solutions of the reduced equations corresponding to both lower and upper branch states are found for Waleffe flow [F. Waleffe, Phys. Fluids 9, 883--900 (1997)]. The lower branch solution is characterized by fluctuations that vary slowly along the critical layer while the upper branch solutions display a bimodal structure and are more strongly focused on the critical layer. The reduced model provides a rational framework for investigations of subcritical spatiotemporal patterns in parallel shear flows.

We study spatial localization in the generalized Swift-Hohenberg equation with either quadratic-cubic or cubic-quintic nonlinearity subject to spatially heterogeneous forcing. Different types of forcing (sinusoidal or Gaussian) with different spatial scales are considered and the corresponding localized snaking structures are computed. The results indicate that spatial heterogeneity exerts a significant influence on the location of spatially localized structures in both parameter space and physical space, and on their stability properties. The results are expected to assist in the interpretation of experiments on localized structures where departures from spatial homogeneity are generally unavoidable.