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).

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

Preface Introduction 1. Fluid field equations and modal analysis in rigid containers 2. Linear forced sloshing 3. Viscous damping and sloshing suppression devices 4. Weakly nonlinear lateral sloshing 5. Equivalent mechanical models 6. Parametric sloshing (Faraday's waves) 7. Dynamics of liquid sloshing impact 8. Linear interaction of liquid sloshing with elastic containers 9. Nonlinear interaction under external and parametric excitations 10. Interactions with support structures and tuned sloshing absorbers 11. Dynamics of rotating fluids 12. Microgravity sloshing dynamics Bibliography Index.

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Liquid Sloshing Dynamics

A new form of the Boussinesq equations with improved linear dispersion characteristics. Part 2. A slowly-varying bathymetry

We develop a robust numerical method for modelling nonlinear gravity waves which is based on the Zakharov equation/mode-coupling idea but is generalized to include interactions up to an arbitrary order M in wave steepness. A large number ( N = O (1000)) of free wave modes are typically used whose amplitude evolutions are determined through a pseudospectral treatment of the nonlinear free-surface conditions. The computational effort is directly proportional to N and M , and the convergence with N and M is exponentially fast for waves up to approximately 80% of Stokes limiting steepness ( ka ∼ 0.35). The efficiency and accuracy of the method is demonstrated by comparisons to fully nonlinear semi-Lagrangian computations (Vinje & Brevig 1981); calculations of long-time evolution of wavetrains using the modified (fourth-order) Zakharov equations (Stiassnie & Shemer 1987); and experimental measurements of a travelling wave packet (Su 1982). As a final example of the usefulness of the method, we consider the nonlinear interactions between two colliding wave envelopes of different carrier frequencies.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S002211208700288X

A high-order spectral method for the study of nonlinear gravity waves

An investigation is made into the evolution, from a sinusoidal initial wave train, of long periodic waves of small but finite amplitude propagating in one direction over water in a uniform channel. The spatially periodic surface displacement is expanded in a Fourier series with time-dependent coefficients. Equations for the Fourier coefficients are derived from three sources, namely the Korteweg–de Vries equation, the regularized long-wave equation proposed by Benjamin, Bona & Mahony (1972) and the relevant nonlinear boundary-value problem for Laplace's equation. Solutions are found by analytical and by numerical methods, and the three models of the system are compared. The surface displacement is found to take the form of an almost linear superposition of wave trains of the same wavelength as the initial wave train.

Periodic waves in shallow water

Multiple forms for standing waves in deep water periodic in both space and time are obtained analytically as solutions of Zakharov's equation and its modification, and investigated computationally as irrotational two-dimensional solutions of the full nonlinear boundary value problem. The different forms are based on weak nonlinear interactions between the fundamental harmonic and the resonating harmonics of 2, 3,…times the frequency and 4, 9,…respectively times the wavenumber. The new forms of standing waves have amplitudes with local maxima at the resonating harmonics, unlike the classical (Stokes) standing wave which is dominated by the fundamental harmonic. The stability of the new standing waves is investigated for small to moderate wave energies by numerical computation of their evolution, starting from the standing wave solution whose only initial disturbance is the numerical error. The instability of the Stokes standing wave to sideband disturbances is demonstrated first, by showing the evolution into cyclic recurrence that occurs when a set of nine equal Stokes standing waves is perturbed by a standing wave of a length equal to the total length of the nine waves. The cyclic recurrence is similar to that observed in the well-known linear instability and sideband modulation of Stokes progressive waves, and is also similar to that resulting from the evolution of the new standing waves in which the first and ninth harmonics are dominant. The new standing waves are only marginally unstable at small to moderate wave energies, with harmonics which remain near their initial amplitudes and phases for typically 100–1000 wave periods before evolving into slowly modulated oscillations or diverging.

/pdf/different-forms-for-nonlinear-standing-waves-in-deep-water-x5sx3bpmba.pdf

Different forms for nonlinear standing waves in deep water

Breakdown to chaotic motion of a forced, damped, spherical pendulum

A nonlinear analysis is presented of waves propagating around the free surface of water contained in a circular basin of finite uniform depth. The property that distinguishes these waves from unidirectional gravity waves is the occurrence of low-order resonant interactions between the components composing them. Steady waves in the neighbourhood of resonance are calculated in the fully nonlinear problem, when it is shown that multiple families of free-wave solutions, each family having a different set of resonating wave components, are associated with each of the water depths at which resonance occurs. Linear stability calculations indicate that most steady waves dominated by resonating wave components are linearly unstable. The nonlinear time evolution of perturbed waves is calculated as a check on the linear stability results, leading to doubts about the relevance of the linear prediction when marginal instability is said to occur.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022112089002107

Nonlinear progressive free waves in a circular basin

We consider the phase-locked solutions of the differential equation governing planar motion of a weakly damped pendulum forced by a prescribed, vertical acceleration eg sin ωt of its pivot, where ω and t are dimensionless, and the unit of time is the reciprocal of the natural frequency. Resonance curves and stability boundaries are presented for downward and inverted oscillations of periods T, 2T, 4T, …, where T (≡ 2π/ω) is the forcing period. Stable, downward oscillations are found to occur in distinct regions of the (ω, e) plane, reminiscent of the regions of stability of the Mathieu equation (which describes the equivalent undamped, parametrically excited pendulum motion). The regions are dominated by oscillations of frequencies , each region being bounded on one side by a vertical state at rest in stable equilibrium and on the other side by a symmetry-breaking, period-doubling sequence to chaotic motion. Stable, inverted oscillations are found to occur also in distinct regions of the (ω, e) plane, the principal oscillation in each region being symmetric with period 2T.

/pdf/on-a-periodically-forced-weakly-damped-pendulum-part-3-45rsjjtkzr.pdf

Peter J. Bryant

Papers

Periodic waves in shallow water

Different forms for nonlinear standing waves in deep water

Breakdown to chaotic motion of a forced, damped, spherical pendulum

Nonlinear progressive free waves in a circular basin

On a periodically forced, weakly damped pendulum. Part 3: Vertical forcing