A sufficient condition for inviscid shear instability: Hurdle theorem and its application to alternating jets

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Hauptverfasser: Deguchi, Kengo, Hirota, Makoto, Dowling, Timothy
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Deguchi, Kengo
Hirota, Makoto
Dowling, Timothy
author_facet Deguchi, Kengo
Hirota, Makoto
Dowling, Timothy
contents We propose a simple method to identify unstable parameter regions in general inviscid unidirectional shear flow stability problems. The theory is applicable to a wide range of basic flows, including those that are non-monotonic. We illustrate the method using a model of Jupiter's alternating jet streams based on the quasi-geostrophic equation. The main result is that the flow is unstable if there is an interval in the flow domain for which the reciprocal Rossby Mach number (a quantity defined in terms of the zonal flow and potential vorticity distribution), surpasses a certain threshold or `hurdle'. The hurdle height approaches unity when we can take the hurdle width to greatly exceeds the atmosphere's intrinsic deformation length, as holds on gas giants. In this case, the Kelvin-Arnol'd sufficient condition of stability accurately detects instability. These results improve the theoretical framework for explaining the stable maintenance of Jupiter and Saturn's jets over decadal timescales.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2401_08027
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle A sufficient condition for inviscid shear instability: Hurdle theorem and its application to alternating jets
Deguchi, Kengo
Hirota, Makoto
Dowling, Timothy
Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Geophysics
We propose a simple method to identify unstable parameter regions in general inviscid unidirectional shear flow stability problems. The theory is applicable to a wide range of basic flows, including those that are non-monotonic. We illustrate the method using a model of Jupiter's alternating jet streams based on the quasi-geostrophic equation. The main result is that the flow is unstable if there is an interval in the flow domain for which the reciprocal Rossby Mach number (a quantity defined in terms of the zonal flow and potential vorticity distribution), surpasses a certain threshold or `hurdle'. The hurdle height approaches unity when we can take the hurdle width to greatly exceeds the atmosphere's intrinsic deformation length, as holds on gas giants. In this case, the Kelvin-Arnol'd sufficient condition of stability accurately detects instability. These results improve the theoretical framework for explaining the stable maintenance of Jupiter and Saturn's jets over decadal timescales.
title A sufficient condition for inviscid shear instability: Hurdle theorem and its application to alternating jets
topic Fluid Dynamics
Mathematical Physics
Geophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.08027