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.

Instabilities are present in all natural fluids from rivers to atmospheres. This book considers the physical processes that generate instability. Part I describes the normal mode instabilities most important in geophysical applications, including convection, shear instability and baroclinic instability. Classical analytical approaches are covered, while also emphasising numerical methods, mechanisms such as internal wave resonance, and simple `rules of thumb' that permit assessment of instability quickly and intuitively. Part II introduces the cutting edge: nonmodal instabilities, the relationship between instability and turbulence, self-organised criticality, and advanced numerical techniques. Featuring numerous exercises and projects, the book is ideal for advanced students and researchers wishing to understand flow instability and apply it to their own research. It can be used to teach courses in oceanography, atmospheric science, coastal engineering, applied mathematics and environmental science. Exercise solutions and MATLAB® examples are provided online. Also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Two-fluid dynamics is a challenging subject rich in physics and prac tical applications. Many of the most interesting problems are tied to the loss of stability which is realized in preferential positioning and shaping of the interface, so that interfacial stability is a major player in this drama. Typically, solutions of equations governing the dynamics of two fluids are not uniquely determined by the boundary data and different configurations of flow are compatible with the same data. This is one reason why stability studies are important; we need to know which of the possible solutions are stable to predict what might be observed. When we started our studies in the early 1980's, it was not at all evident that stability theory could actu ally work in the hostile environment of pervasive nonuniqueness. We were pleasantly surprised, even astounded, by the extent to which it does work. There are many simple solutions, called basic flows, which are never stable, but we may always compute growth rates and determine the wavelength and frequency of the unstable mode which grows the fastest. This proce dure appears to work well even in deeply nonlinear regimes where linear theory is not strictly valid, just as Lord Rayleigh showed long ago in his calculation of the size of drops resulting from capillary-induced pinch-off of an inviscid jet.

This book presents five sets of pedagogical lectures by internationally respected researchers on nonlinear instabilities and the transition to turbulence in hydrodynamics. The book begins with a general introduction to hydrodynamics covering fluid properties, flow measurement, dimensional analysis and turbulence. Chapter two reviews the special characteristics of instabilities in open flows. Chapter three presents mathematical tools for multiscale analysis and asymptotic matching applied to the dynamics of fronts and localized nonlinear states. Chapter four gives a detailed review of pattern forming instabilities. The final chapter provides a detailed and comprehensive introduction to the instability of flames, shocks and detonations. Together, these lectures provide a thought-provoking overview of current research in this important area.