Hydrodynamic Shock and Rogue Waves

Abstract:

The uni-directional propagation of surface gravity water waves can be described within the framework of weakly nonlinear evolution equations such as the Korteweg-de Vries equation (KdV) in shallow-water and the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) in intermediate water depth as well as deep-water regime. Both, the KdV and NLS are physically very rich and can be for instance used to study the fundamental principles of nonlinear dynamics such as the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam recurrence. Indeed, one possible explanation for the formation of ocean extreme waves, also referred to as rogue waves, is the modulation instability of nonlinear Stokes waves. This instability mechanism can be discussed within the context of exact NLS breather solutions, such as fundamental Akhmediev- or Peregrine-type breathers. A number of recent laboratory experiments on solitons and breathers in several water wave flumes will be described while novel insights on shock and rogue waves as well as domain wall physics will be discussed as well.

Biography:

Amin Chabchoub is Associate Professor in Environmental Fluid Mechanics at the School of Civil Engineering of The University of Sydney. Qualifications: MSc Applied Mathematics / Mechanical Engineering (University of Bremen, Germany), PhD (Hamburg University of Technology, Germany). Worked as Assistant Professor of Hydrodynamics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Aalto University (former Helsinki University of Technology – Finland) as well as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Research Scientist at Imperial College London (UK), Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) and The University of Tokyo (Japan). Areas of expertise: fluid mechanics, nonlinear waves, rogue and shock waves, nonlinear optics.