A comprehensive review of spatiotemporal pattern formation in systems driven away from equilibrium is presented, with emphasis on comparisons between theory and quantitative experiments. Examples include patterns in hydrodynamic systems such as thermal convection in pure fluids and binary mixtures, Taylor-Couette flow, parametric-wave instabilities, as well as patterns in solidification fronts, nonlinear optics, oscillatory chemical reactions and excitable biological media. The theoretical starting point is usually a set of deterministic equations of motion, typically in the form of nonlinear partial differential equations. These are sometimes supplemented by stochastic terms representing thermal or instrumental noise, but for macroscopic systems and carefully designed experiments the stochastic forces are often negligible. An aim of theory is to describe solutions of the deterministic equations that are likely to be reached starting from typical initial conditions and to persist at long times. A unified description is developed, based on the linear instabilities of a homogeneous state, which leads naturally to a classification of patterns in terms of the characteristic wave vector q0 and frequency ω0 of the instability. Type Is systems (ω0=0, q0≠0) are stationary in time and periodic in space; type IIIo systems (ω0≠0, q0=0) are periodic in time and uniform in space; and type Io systems (ω0≠0, q0≠0) are periodic in both space and time. Near a continuous (or supercritical) instability, the dynamics may be accurately described via "amplitude equations," whose form is universal for each type of instability. The specifics of each system enter only through the nonuniversal coefficients. Far from the instability threshold a different universal description known as the "phase equation" may be derived, but it is restricted to slow distortions of an ideal pattern. For many systems appropriate starting equations are either not known or too complicated to analyze conveniently. It is thus useful to introduce phenomenological order-parameter models, which lead to the correct amplitude equations near threshold, and which may be solved analytically or numerically in the nonlinear regime away from the instability. The above theoretical methods are useful in analyzing "real pattern effects" such as the influence of external boundaries, or the formation and dynamics of defects in ideal structures. An important element in nonequilibrium systems is the appearance of deterministic chaos. A greal deal is known about systems with a small number of degrees of freedom displaying "temporal chaos," where the structure of the phase space can be analyzed in detail. For spatially extended systems with many degrees of freedom, on the other hand, one is dealing with spatiotemporal chaos and appropriate methods of analysis need to be developed. In addition to the general features of nonequilibrium pattern formation discussed above, detailed reviews of theoretical and experimental work on many specific systems are presented. These include Rayleigh-Benard convection in a pure fluid, convection in binary-fluid mixtures, electrohydrodynamic convection in nematic liquid crystals, Taylor-Couette flow between rotating cylinders, parametric surface waves, patterns in certain open flow systems, oscillatory chemical reactions, static and dynamic patterns in biological media, crystallization fronts, and patterns in nonlinear optics. A concluding section summarizes what has and has not been accomplished, and attempts to assess the prospects for the future.

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Pattern formation outside of equilibrium

From molecules to crystal engineering: supramolecular isomerism and polymorphism in network solids.

The standard κ-ϵ equations and other turbulence models are evaluated with respect to their applicability in swirling, recirculating flows. The turbulence models are formulated on the basis of two separate viewpoints. The first perspective assumes that an isotropic eddy viscosity and the modified Boussinesq hypothesis adequately describe the stress distributions, and that the source of predictive error is a consequence of the modeled terms in the κ-ϵ equations. Both stabilizing and destabilizing Richardson number corrections are incorporated to investigate this line of reasoning. A second viewpoint proposes that the eddy viscosity approach is inherently inadequate and that a redistribution of the stress magnitudes is necessary. Investigation of higher-order closure is pursued on the level of an algebraic stress closure. Various turbulence model predictions are compared with experimental data from a variety of isothermal, confined studies. Supportive swirl comparisons are also performed for a laminar flow case, as well as reacting flow cases. Parallel predictions or contributions from other sources are also consulted where appropriate. Predictive accuracy was found to be a partial function of inlet boundary conditions and numerical diffusion. Despite prediction sensitivity to inlet conditions and numerics, the data comparisons delineate the relative advantages and disadvantages of the various modifications. Possible research avenues in the area of computational modeling of strongly swirling, recirculating flows are reviewed and discussed.

Bubbles, Drops, and Particles

Equations governing modulations of weakly nonlinear water waves are described. The modulations are coupled with wave-induced mean flows except in the case of water deeper than the modulation length scale. Equations suitable for water depths of the order the modulation length scale are deduced from those derived by Davey and Stewartson [5] and Dysthe [6]. A number of ases in which these equations reduce to a one dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger (NLS) equation are enumerated.Several analytical solutions of NLS equations are presented, with discussion of some of their implications for describing the propagation of water waves. Some of the solutions have not been presented in detail, or in convenient form before. One is new, a “rational” solution describing an “amplitude peak” which is isolated in space-time. Ma's [13] soli ton is particularly relevant to the recurrence of uniform wave trains in the experiment of Lake et al.[10].In further discussion it is pointed out that although water waves are unstable to three-dimensional disturbances, an effective description of weakly nonlinear two-dimensional waves would be a useful step towards describing ocean wave propagation.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0334270000003891

Water waves, nonlinear Schrödinger equations and their solutions

Dynamics and stability of lean-premixed swirl-stabilized combustion

In this note we use the method of multiple scales to derive the two coupled nonlinear partial differential equations which describe the evolution of a three-dimensional wave-packet of wavenumber k on water of finite depth. The equations are used to study the stability of the uniform Stokes wavetrain to small disturbances whose length scale is large compared with 2π/ k . The stability criterion obtained is identical with that derived by Hayes under the more restrictive requirement that the disturbances are oblique plane waves in which the amplitude variation is much smaller than the phase variation.

On three-dimensional packets of surface waves

A rational theory is developed to explain the initial pressure rise and consequent separation of a laminar boundary layer when it interacts with a moderately strong shock. In this theory, which is firmly based on the linearized theory of Lighthill (1953), the region of interest is divided into three parts: the major part of the boundary layer, which is shown to change under largely inviscid forces, the supersonic main stream just adjacent to the boundary layer in which the pressure variation is small; and a region close to the wall, on boundary-layer scale, in which the relative variation of the velocity is large but is controlled by the incompressible boundary-layer equations, together with novel boundary conditions. We find that the first two parts can be handled in a straightforward way and the problem of self-induced separation reduces, in its essentials, to the solution of a single problem in the theory of incompressible boundary layers. It is found that this problem has three solutions, one of which corresponds to undisturbed flow and another describes a boundary layer which, spontaneously, generates an adverse pressure gradient and a decreasing skin friction which eventually vanishes and then downstream a reversed flow is set up. The third solution generates a favourable pressure gradient and is not relevant to the present study. Although there has hitherto been no valid numerical method of integrating a boundary layer with reversed flow, we find that an ad hoc method seems to lead to a stable solution which has a number of the properties to be expected of a separated boundary layer. Comparison with experiment gives qualitatively good agreement, but quantitatively errors of the order of 20% are found. It is believed that these errors arise because the Reynolds numbers at which the experiments were carried out are too small.

Self-induced separation

The initial-value problem for linearized perturbations is discussed, and the asymptotic solution for large time is given. For values of the Reynolds number slightly greater than the critical value, above which perturbations may grow, the asymptotic solution is used as a guide in the choice of appropriate length and time scales for slow variations in the amplitude A of a non-linear two-dimensional perturbation wave. It is found that suitable time and space variables are et and e½(x+a1rt), where t is the time, x the distance in the direction of flow, e the growth rate of linearized theory and (−a1r) the group velocity. By the method of multiple scales, A is found to satisfy a non-linear parabolic differential equation, a generalization of the time-dependent equation of earlier work. Initial conditions are given by the asymptotic solution of linearized theory.

A non-linear instability theory for a wave system in plane Poiseuille flow

Publisher Summary The chapter reviews subdivisions of the boundary layers that become necessary under the impact of sudden stream wise changes. If the boundary layer is supersonic, a new phenomenon occurs that appears to have no counterpart in subsonic flow. It leads to a greater ease of study of the flow properties and helps to overcome the barrier of separation that appears to hinder progress in the incompressible studies. The phenomenon is the free-interaction boundary layer, first observed by Ackeret and independently by Liepmann in their study of the interaction between a shock wave and a boundary layer and more extensively studied subsequently by Liepmann, Chapman, Hakkinen, and many others. These studies show that when a shock, sufficiently strong to provoke separation, strikes a laminar boundary layer, the boundary layer actually separates ahead of the foot of the shock and the flow features of the separation region are independent of the characteristics of the shock and depend only on the local properties of the flow. The chapter provides example for incompressible boundary layers when the fluid is compressible and explains the modifications necessary to allow this effect.

Multistructured Boundary Layers on Flat Plates and Related Bodies

The inviscid instability of columnar vortex flows in unbounded domains to three-dimensional perturbations is considered. The undisturbed flows may have axial and swirl velocity components with a general dependence on distance from the swirl axis. The equation governing the disturbance is found to simplify when the azimuthal wavenumber n is large. This permits us to develop the solution in an asymptotic expansion and reveals a class of unstable modes. The asymptotic results are confirmed by comparisons with numerical solutions of the full problem for a specific flow modelling the trailing vortex. It is found that the asymptotic theory predicts the most-unstable wave with reasonable accuracy for values of n as low as 3, and improves rapidly in accuracy as n increases. This study enables us to formulate a sufficient condition for the instability of columnar vortices as follows. Let the vortex have axial velocity W(r), azimuthal velocity V(r), where r is distance from the axis, let Ω be the angular velocity V/r, and let Γ be the circulation rV. Then the flow is unstable if
 $
 V\frac{d\Omega}{dr}\left[ \frac{d\Omega}{dr}\frac{d\Gamma}{dr} + \left(\frac{dW}{dr}\right)^2\right] < 0.$

Keith Stewartson

Papers

On three-dimensional packets of surface waves

Self-induced separation

A non-linear instability theory for a wave system in plane Poiseuille flow

Multistructured Boundary Layers on Flat Plates and Related Bodies

A sufficient condition for the instability of columnar vortices