Nonlinear fate of internal wave attractors

We present a laboratory study on the instability of internal wave attractors in a trapezoidal fluid domain filled with uniformly stratified fluid. Energy is injected into the system via standing-wave-type motion of a vertical wall. Attractors are found to be destroyed by parametric subharmonic insta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2013-06, Vol.110 (23), p.234501-234501, Article 234501
Main Authors: Scolan, Hélène, Ermanyuk, Eugeny, Dauxois, Thierry
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We present a laboratory study on the instability of internal wave attractors in a trapezoidal fluid domain filled with uniformly stratified fluid. Energy is injected into the system via standing-wave-type motion of a vertical wall. Attractors are found to be destroyed by parametric subharmonic instability via a triadic resonance which is shown to provide a very efficient energy pathway from long to short length scales. This Letter provides an explanation of why attractors may be difficult or impossible to observe in natural systems subject to large amplitude forcing.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.234501