Modulations of viscous fluid conduit periodic waves

Abstract

Modulated periodic interfacial waves along a conduit of viscous liquid are explored using nonlinear wave modulation theory and numerical methods. Large-amplitude periodic-wave modulation (Whitham) theory does not require integrability of the underlying model equation, yet often either integrable equations are studied or the full extent of Whitham theory is not developed. Periodic wave solutions of the nonlinear, dispersive, non-integrable conduit equation are characterized by their wavenumber and amplitude. In the weakly nonlinear regime, both the defocusing and focusing variants of the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation are derived, depending on the carrier wavenumber. Dark and bright envelope solitons are found to persist in long-time numerical solutions of the conduit equation, providing numerical evidence for the existence of strongly nonlinear, large-amplitude envelope solitons. Due to non-convex dispersion, modulational instability for periodic waves above a critical wavenumber is predicted and observed. In the large-amplitude regime, structural properties of the Whitham modulation equations are computed, including strict hyperbolicity, genuine nonlinearity and linear degeneracy. Bifurcating from the NLS critical wavenumber at zero amplitude is an amplitude-dependent elliptic region for the Whitham equations within which a maximally unstable periodic wave is identified. The viscous fluid conduit system is a mathematically tractable, experimentally viable model system for wide-ranging nonlinear, dispersive wave dynamics.