to be done in this area. Face recognition is a problem that scarcely clamoured for attention before the computer age but, having surfaced, has involved a wide range of techniques and has attracted the attention of some fine minds (David Mumford was a Fields Medallist in 1974). This singular application of mathematical modelling to a messy applied problem of obvious utility and importance but with no unique solution is a pretty one to share with students: perhaps, returning to the source of our opening quotation, we may invert Duncan's earlier observation, 'There is an art to find the mind's construction in the face!'.

Linear and nonlinear waves, by G. B. Whitham. Pp.636. £50. 1999. ISBN 0 471 35942 4 (Wiley).

Sea wave energy is being increasingly regarded in many countries as a major and promising resource. The paper deals with the development of wave energy utilization since the 1970s. Several topics are addressed: the characterization of the wave energy resource; theoretical background, with especial relevance to hydrodynamics of wave energy absorption and control; how a large range of devices kept being proposed and studied, and how such devices can be organized into classes; the conception, design, model-testing, construction and deployment into real sea of prototypes; and the development of specific equipment (air and water turbines, high-pressure hydraulics, linear electrical generators) and mooring systems.

Wave energy utilization: A review of the technologies

We survey the newly developed Hilbert spectral analysis method and its applications to Stokes waves, nonlinear wave evolution processes, the spectral form of the random wave field, and turbulence. Our emphasis is on the inadequacy of presently available methods in nonlinear and nonstationary data analysis. Hilbert spectral analysis is here proposed as an alternative. This new method provides not only a more precise definition of particular events in time-frequency space than wavelet analysis, but also more physically meaningful interpretations of the underlying dynamic processes.

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A new view of nonlinear water waves: the Hilbert spectrum

Dynamics of structures

Equations of motion are derived for long waves in water of varying depth. The equations are for small amplitude waves, but do include non-linear terms. They correspond to the Boussinesq equations for water of constant depth. Solutions have been calculated numerically for a solitary wave on a beach of uniform slope. These solutions include a reflected wave, which is also derived analytically by using the linearized long-wave equations.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112067002605

Long waves on a beach

A theory is described for the nonlinear waves on the surface of a thin film flowing down an inclined plane. Attention is focused on stationary waves of finite amplitude and long wavelength at high Reynolds numbers and moderate Weber numbers. Based on asymptotic equations accurate to the second order in the depth-to-wavelength ratio, a third-order dynamical system is obtained after changing to the frame of reference moving at the wave propagation speed. By examining the fixed-point stability of the dynamical system, parametric regimes of heteroclinc orbits and Hopf bifurcations are delineated. Extensive numerical experiments guided by the linear analyses reveal a variety of bifurcation scenarios as the phase speed deviates from the Hopf-bifurcation thresholds. These include homoclinic bifurcations which lead to homoclinic orbits corresponding to well separated solitary waves with one or several humps, some of which occur after passing through chaotic zones generated by period-doublings. There are also cases where chaos is the ultimate state following cascades of period-doublings, as well as cases where only limit cycles prevail. The dependence of bifurcation scenarios on the inclination angle, and Weber and Reynolds numbers is summarized.

Stationary waves on an inclined sheet of viscous fluid at high Reynolds and moderate Weber numbers

The theory of homogenization which is a rigorous method of averaging by multiple scale expansions, is applied here to the transport of a solute in a porous medium. The main assumption is that the matrix has a periodic pore structure on the local scale. Starting from the pores with the Navier-Stokes equations for the fluid motion and the usual convective-diffusion equation for the solute, we give an alternative derivation of the three-dimensional macroscale dispersion tensor for solute concentration. The original result was first found by Brenner by extending Brownian motion theory. The method of homogenization is an expedient approach based on conventional continuum equations and the technique of multiple-scale expansions, and can be extended to more complex media involving three or more contrasting scales with periodicity in every but the largest scale.

Method of homogenization applied to dispersion in porous media

An oscillating flow over a sandy beach can initiate and enhance the formation of bed ripples, with crests perpendicular to the direction of the ambient oscillation. Under certain circumstances, bridges may develop to span adjacent ripple crests, resulting in a brick pattern. It has been suggested that the onset of this transition is due to a three-dimensional centrifugal instability of an otherwise two-dimensional flow over periodic long-crested ripples. Here we analyse theoretically such an instability by assuming that the ripples are rigid and smooth. Two complementary cases are studied. We first consider a weak ambient oscillation over ripples of finite slope in Case (i). The three-dimensional disturbance is found to be localized in a small region either along the crests or along the troughs. In Case (ii) we analyse finite oscillations over ripples of mild slope. The region influenced by the instability is now comparable with a ripple wavelength and the unstable disturbance along adjacent ripples may interact with each other. Four types of harmonic and subharmonic instabilities are found. The associated steady streaming close to the ripple surface shows various tendencies of possible sand accumulations, some of which appear to be qualitatively relevant to the initiation of brick-patterned ripples.

Centrifugal instability of an oscillatory flow over periodic ripples

It is known from recent experiments that the disturbance due to a slender ship advancing in a shallow channel is essentially one-dimensional in the horizontal plane In particular solitons can be radiated upstream in a transient manner In this note we develop a theory for soliton radiation by slender bodies It is shown that, when the ship speed is in the transcritical range, one-dimensional upstream influence can occur even when the channel width is nearly of the order of the ship length but much greater than the ship beam The theory is also extended to one or more ships travelling in the same channel at near-critical speeds

Radiation of solitons by slender bodies advancing in a shallow channel

This paper describes a numerical method using finite elements developed for computing waves and wave forces inside an offshore harbor in communication with the open sea. A mixed method is used whereby the far field and the neighborhood of the tip of a thin breakwater, if any, are represented analytically, and the remaining fluid region is treated by finite element approximation. A comparison with analytic solutions to problems of simple geometry is used to guide the choice of the element size. Mean harbor response and exciting forces on the platforms have been calculated for the case of uniform depth where all solid objects are vertical-walled and bottom-seated, and for the case of shallow water waves using the approximate formulation of John.

Chiang C. Mei

Papers

Stationary waves on an inclined sheet of viscous fluid at high Reynolds and moderate Weber numbers

Method of homogenization applied to dispersion in porous media

Centrifugal instability of an oscillatory flow over periodic ripples

Radiation of solitons by slender bodies advancing in a shallow channel

Oscillations and wave forces in a man-made harbor in the open sea