Abstract
Shear flows with a free surface possess diverse branches of modal instabilities. By approximating the mean flow with a piecewise linear profile, an understanding and classification of the instabilities can be achieved by studying the interaction of the edge waves that arise at the density discontinuity at the surface and the vorticity waves that are supported at the mean vorticity gradient discontinuities in the interior. The various branches of instability are identified and their physical origin is clarified. The edge waves giving rise to the modal instabilities can also lead to a modest transient growth that extends into the regions of neutrality of the flow. However, when the continuous spectrum is excited substantial transient growth can arise and the optimal perturbations attain greater energy when compared with the energy of the fastest modal growing perturbation. These optimal perturbations utilize the continuous spectrum to excite at large amplitude the neutral or amplifying modes of the system.
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