Instability of flows and their transition to turbulence are widespread phenomena in engineering and the natural environment, and are important in applied mathematics, astrophysics, biology, geophysics, meteorology, oceanography and physics as well as engineering. This is a textbook to introduce these phenomena at a level suitable for a graduate course, by modelling them mathematically, and describing numerical simulations and laboratory experiments. The visualization of instabilities is emphasized, with many figures, and in references to more still and moving pictures. The relation of chaos to transition is discussed at length. Many worked examples and exercises for students illustrate the ideas of the text. Readers are assumed to be fluent in linear algebra, advanced calculus, elementary theory of ordinary differential equations, complex variables and the elements of fluid mechanics. The book is aimed at graduate students but will also be very useful for specialists in other fields.

Offers modern and numerical techniques for the stability of fluid flow with illustrations, an extensive bibliography, and exercises with solutions.

The great number of varied approaches to hydrodynamic stability theory appear as a bulk of results whose classification and discussion are well-known in the literature. Several books deal with one aspect of this theory alone (e.g. the linear case, the influence of temperature and magnetic field, large classes of globally stable fluid motions etc.). The aim of this book is to provide a complete mathe matical treatment of hydrodynamic stability theory by combining the early results of engineers and applied mathematicians with the recent achievements of pure mathematicians. In order to ensure a more operational frame to this theory I have briefly outlined the main results concerning the stability of the simplest types of flow. I have attempted several definitions of the stability of fluid flows with due consideration of the connections between them. On the other hand, as the large number of initial and boundary value problems in hydrodynamic stability theory requires appropriate treat ments, most of this book is devoted to the main concepts and methods used in hydrodynamic stability theory. Open problems are expressed in both mathematical and physical terms.

Publisher Description

A detailed look at some of the more modern issues of hydrodynamic stability, including transient growth, eigenvalue spectra, secondary instability. It presents analytical results and numerical simulations, linear and selected nonlinear stability methods. By including classical results as well as recent developments in the field of hydrodynamic stability and transition, the book can be used as a textbook for an introductory, graduate-level course in stability theory or for a special-topics fluids course. It is equally of value as a reference for researchers in the field of hydrodynamic stability theory or with an interest in recent developments in fluid dynamics. Stability theory has seen a rapid development over the past decade, this book includes such new developments as direct numerical simulations of transition to turbulence and linear analysis based on the initial-value problem.

Hydrodynamic stability is of fundamental importance in fluid mechanics and is concerned with the problem of transition from laminar to turbulent flow. Drazin and Reid emphasise throughout the ideas involved, the physical mechanisms, the methods used, and the results obtained, and, wherever possible, relate the theory to both experimental and numerical results. A distinctive feature of the book is the large number of problems it contains. These problems not only provide exercises for students but also provide many additional results in a concise form. This new edition of this celebrated introduction differs principally by the inclusion of detailed solutions for those exercises, and by the addition of a Foreword by Professor J. W. Miles.

The great number of varied approaches to hydrodynamic stability theory appear as a bulk of results whose classification and discussion are well-known in the literature. Several books deal with one aspect of this theory alone (e.g. the linear case, the influence of temperature and magnetic field, large classes of globally stable fluid motions etc.). The aim of this book is to provide a complete mathe matical treatment of hydrodynamic stability theory by combining the early results of engineers and applied mathematicians with the recent achievements of pure mathematicians. In order to ensure a more operational frame to this theory I have briefly outlined the main results concerning the stability of the simplest types of flow. I have attempted several definitions of the stability of fluid flows with due consideration of the connections between them. On the other hand, as the large number of initial and boundary value problems in hydrodynamic stability theory requires appropriate treat ments, most of this book is devoted to the main concepts and methods used in hydrodynamic stability theory. Open problems are expressed in both mathematical and physical terms.