Kinetic Energy Spectra Research Articles

The Mechanism of Scale Selection for Mixed Rossby‐Gravity Waves in the Upper Troposphere and the Upper Stratosphere

AbstractMixed Rossby‐gravity (MRG) waves play a significant role in tropical variability. Their kinetic energy spectra exhibit maximal amplitudes at synoptic scales in the upper troposphere and at planetary scales in the upper stratosphere. The mechanism for different scale selection in the two regions has remained elusive. Here, we use a spherical barotropic model with the background zonal wind profiles derived from ERA5 reanalysis to show that the recently introduced MRG wave excitation mechanism wave‐mean flow interactions produces MRG waves with the observed scale properties in the two regions. Simulations with idealized zonal jets show that the jet position determines the MRG scale selection: the closer the jet to the equator, the smaller the scale of the excited MRG waves. Therefore, midlatitude jets, such as found in the upper stratosphere, support the excitation of planetary‐scale MRG waves.

Convective and Orographic Origins of the Mesoscale Kinetic Energy Spectrum

AbstractThe mesoscale spectrum describes the distribution of kinetic energy in the Earth's atmosphere between length scales of 10 and 400 km. Since the first observations, the origins of this spectrum have been controversial. At synoptic scales, the spectrum follows a −3 spectral slope, consistent with two‐dimensional turbulence theory, but a shallower −5/3 slope was observed at the shorter mesoscales. The cause of the shallower slope remains obscure, illustrating our lack of understanding. Through a novel coarse‐graining methodology, we are able to present a spatio‐temporal climatology of the spectral slope. We find convection and orography have a shallowing effect and can quantify this using “conditioned spectra.” These are typical spectra for a meteorological condition, obtained by aggregating spectra where the condition holds. This allows the investigation of new relationships, such as that between energy flux and spectral slope. Potential future applications of our methodology include predictability research and model validation.

Dynamic instabilities and turbulence of merged rotating Bose–Einstein condensates

We present the simulation results of merging harmonically confined rotating Bose–Einstein condensates in two dimensions. Merging of the condensate is triggered by positioning the rotation axis at the trap minima and moving both condensates toward each other while slowly ramping their rotation frequency. We analyze the dynamics of the merged condensate by letting them evolve under a single harmonic trap. We systematically investigate the formation of solitonic and vortex structures in the final, unified condensate, considering both nonrotating and rotating initial states. In both cases, merging leads to the formation of solitons that decay into vortex pairs through snake instability, and subsequently, these pairs annihilate. Soliton formation and decay-induced phase excitations generate sound waves, more pronounced when the merging time is short. We witness no sound wave generation at sufficiently longer merging times that finally leads to the condensate reaching its ground state. With rotation, we notice off-axis merging (where the rotation axes are not aligned), leading to the distortion and weakening of soliton formation. The incompressible kinetic energy spectrum exhibits a Kolmogorov-like cascade [E(k)∼k−5/3] in the initial stage for merging condensates rotating above a critical frequency and a Vinen-like cascade [E(k)∼k−1] at a later time for all cases. Our findings hold potential significance for atomic interferometry, continuous atomic lasers, and quantum sensing applications.

Eddy viscosity enhanced temporal direct deconvolution model for temporal large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow

In this work, a novel eddy viscosity enhanced temporal direct deconvolution model (TDDM) is proposed for temporal large-eddy simulation (TLES) of turbulent channel flow at large filter widths. To improve the accuracy of the constant eddy viscosity (CEV) model, particularly in the near-wall region, a damping function is incorporated to refine its performance. Moreover, a spatial filtering strategy is introduced to reduce the aliasing errors associated with the computation of subfilter-scale (SFS) stress, thereby enhancing numerical stability. In the a posteriori study, the accuracy of the CEV model is assessed comprehensively by comparing the TLES results with corresponding temporally filtered direct numerical simulation data. The results demonstrate that the CEV-enhanced TDDM provides accurate predictions across various statistical properties of velocity, instantaneous flow structures, kinetic energy spectra, and SFS energy fluxes. The coefficient sensitivity analysis of the CEV model reveals that the model coefficient significantly influences low Reynolds number flows, while its impact on high Reynolds number flows is relatively small. TLES on coarse grids demonstrate that the CEV-enhanced TDDM exhibits strong robustness and accuracy at different grid resolutions. Additionally, the CEV-enhanced TDDM in high Reynolds number flows is stable and accurate at remarkably large filter widths.

Hydrodynamic energy flux in a many-particle system

In this letter, we demonstrate energy transfers and thermalization in an isolated ensemble of realistic gas particles. We perform a grid-free classical molecular dynamics simulation of two-dimensional Lenard-Jones gas. We start our simulation with a large-scale vortex akin to a hydrodynamic flow and study its non-equilibrium behavior till it attains thermal equilibrium. In the intermediate phases, small wavenumbers (k) exhibit E(k)∝k−3 kinetic energy spectrum, whereas large wavenumbers exhibit E(k)∝k spectrum. Asymptotically, E(k)∝k for the whole range of k, thus indicating thermalization. These results are akin to those of Euler turbulence despite complex collisions and interactions among the particles.

Super-resolution reconstruction of turbulence for Newtonian and viscoelastic fluids with a physical constraint

Super-resolution reconstruction (SR) of turbulent flow fields with high physical fidelity from low-resolution turbulence data is a novel and cost-effective way in a turbulence study. However, some naive image-to-image machine learning methods often produce nonphysical features inconsistent with the physical characteristics of turbulence. The present work proposes, respectively, convolutional neural network and generative adversarial network-based turbulence SR models using the kinetic energy spectra of turbulence flow as a physical constraint. The models have been validated in turbulence SR reconstruction for a Newtonian fluid under the flow condition of homogeneous isotropic turbulence at Reynolds number, Re=3140 and 4710 and viscoelastic fluid at the same Re numbers and Weisenberg number, Wi=0.796 and 1.194 (the elasticity number El=Wi/Re=0.000 254), respectively. The results show that with the energy spectra constraint (ESC), not only the nonphysical features occurred in the energy spectra of velocity field could be eliminated by the SR models, the errors of their reconstructed vorticity fields in comparison with the results of direct numerical simulation are also significantly smaller than those of the SR models without ESC. Therefore, incorporation of physical constraints is vital in preserving physical characteristics in SR of turbulent flow.

Scaling Transition of Active Turbulence from Two to Three Dimensions.

Turbulent flows are observed in low-Reynolds active fluids, which display similar phenomenology to the classical inertial turbulence but are of a different nature. Understanding the dependence of this new type of turbulence on dimensionality is a fundamental challenge in non-equilibrium physics. Real-space structures and kinetic energy spectra of bacterial turbulence are experimentally measured from two to three dimensions. The turbulence shows three regimes separated by two critical confinement heights, resulting from the competition of bacterial length, vortex size and confinement height. Meanwhile, the kinetic energy spectra display distinct universal scaling laws in quasi-2D and 3D regimes, independent of bacterial activity, length, and confinement height, whereas scaling exponents transition in two steps around the critical heights. The scaling behaviors are well captured by the hydrodynamic model wedevelop, which employs image systems to represent the effects of confining boundaries. The study suggests a framework for investigating the effect of dimensionality on non-equilibrium self-organizedsystems.

(Invited) Consideration on Gate Stack Formation Processes of Ultrawide Bandgap Ga2O3 with SiO2 Dielectric Layer

MOSFETs on β-Ga2O3 are expected to be a high-efficient and cost-effective alternative option of high-voltage power devices. Taking account of the reliability and the large conduction-band offset against β-Ga2O3, it would be reasonable to employ SiO2 as the gate dieletric. In this study we investigated the effects of post-deposition annealing (PDA) on SiO2/β-Ga2O3 MOS gate stacks, in terms of the MOS electrical characteristics and the band alignment.β-Ga2O3 (001) wafers with ~2×1016 cm-3 n-type doped epitaxial layers were cleaned in diluted HF solution, and SiO2 films were deposited by electron-beam (EB) evaporation of Si in O2 ambient of ~1×10-2 Pa, followed by PDA at various temperatures from 600 to 1000℃ in either O2 or N2 ambient. Au was evaporated as gate electrode to form MOS capacitors. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was conducted on the stacks with ~3nm-thick SiO2 for the evaluation of band alignment. Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) was also employed to determine the band diagram of β-Ga2O3 (001).Nearly-ideal capacitance-voltage characteristics were obtained for the MOS capacitor fabricated with O2-PDA at 1000℃. The interface state density (Dit) determined by conductance method decreased down to ~1010 cm-3 at the energy level of EC−0.2 eV by PDA at higher temperature. The hysteresis width (ΔVhys) of C-V curves was smaller for the samples annealed at higher temperatures. The flatband voltage (VFB) shift after O2-PDA resulted in VFB close to the ideal value estimated from the physical properties of Au and Ga2O3, suggesting that fixed charge density at the interface would be minimized. However, PDA in N2 at 1000℃ resulted in a negative shift of VFB, which indicates the formation of positive fixed charges in the stack. The beneficial influences of O2-PDA on those characteristics suggest that an oxygen deficiency introduced near the interface is one of the origins of interface defect states. It is noteworthy that Ga3d XPS on the surface of Ga2O3 substrate always shows a tailing in lower binding energy side, which is indicating oxygen deficiency on the surface. The intensity of this lower-binding-energy component reduced significantly when a bare-Ga2O3 substate was annealed in O2, however, it did not decrease efficiently even after O2-PDA when the surface was covered with SiO2. This is probably due to the oxygen rearrangement at SiO2/Ga2O3 interface determined by the difference of material properties of those oxides. This fact suggests that the Ga2O3 surface easily forms oxygen vacancies when it is covered with SiO2. This would be the reason why the formation of interface defect states is not suppressed without O2-PDA.Next the band diagram of β-Ga2O3 (001) substrate was investigated by UPS analysis where the energy level of valence band edge referring to the vacuum level was evaluted from the energy difference between minimum (cut-off) and maximum edges of the obtained kinetic energy spectra of photoelectrons. As a result we found the valence band edge of of β-Ga2O3 (001) was ~8.2 eV below the vacuum level, where the influences of O2 annealing at 1000℃ on the valence band edge energy level was limited to the shift within ~0.1eV. This would tell us the valence band offset between SiO2 and Ga2O3 should be around ~1.1eV, and the conduction band offset between them is to be around 2.8-2.9eV, by taking account of the well-reported SiO2 band diagram and assuming the bandgap of β-Ga2O3 as 4.7eV. On the other hand, the valence band offset estimated from the deconvolution of the XPS valence band spectrum for a ~3nm-thick SiO2/β-Ga2O3 stack from the energy edge difference between the deconvoluted spectra corresponding to SiO2 and Ga2O3, was a few hundreds of mV smaller than the above expected value (~1.1eV). This discrepancy is indicating the formation of an interface dipole layer between SiO2 and Ga2O3 with a pair of nagative and positive charges aligned at the interface to cause a shift in the band alignment. The magnitude of such dipole was indicated to be more significant (~0.5eV) for the stack after PDA at 1000℃, whereas it was less (0.2~0.3eV) after PDA at 600℃.In conclusion, we demonstrated that SiO2/β-Ga2O3 (001) MOS capacitors showed nearly-ideal electrical characteristics with significantly reduced interface defect density and small fixed charge density by applying O2-PDA. The band alignment of SiO2/β-Ga2O3 (001) MOS stack was clarified by photoelectron spectroscopy to confirm a very large conduction band offset of the stack, but an influence of the formation of interface dipole layer between SiO2 and Ga2O3 on the band alighment was also indicated.

Establishing a limited‐area model based on a global model: A consistency study

AbstractA limited‐area model (LAM) is established based on a global model (Global–Regional Integrated Forecast System; GRIST). GRIST–LAM inherits all the technical features of its global counterpart, enabling independent regional weather and climate modeling. The key advancement involves extending the original dynamical core to integrate it under the lateral boundary conditions (LBCs). As an initial development and evaluation study, this paper focuses on the consistency issue between the LAM and the global model. Three perfect‐model tests, using global solutions as LBCs and background truths, were performed to evaluate the LAM behaviors. In the pure dynamical core test, the LBC errors do not compromise the solutions within the interior domain. However, certain configurations can lead to more discontinuous solutions at the domain boundary. The solution error for a specified region decreases as the domain size increases when all other factors are equal. A small error pulse is generated during the initial stage of integration due to the presence of artificial transient waves induced by the LBCs. The model generates fine‐scale details and smaller errors based on coarser‐resolution LBCs. The consistency between LAM and LBC also influences the errors. The climate simulations demonstrate that both hydrostatic and non‐hydrostatic LAMs can reach statistical equilibrium. Regional model climates in the interior domain have higher quality but are sensitive to domain size and LBC configuration. Using a variable LBC coefficient is helpful to alleviate the artificial precipitation at the boundary. In the kilometer‐scale test, the global variable‐resolution model and its LAM counterpart show comparable results. Their performance is competitive with that of a uniform‐resolution global storm‐resolving simulation. Global variable‐resolution and LAM generate higher magnitudes in the tail part of the kinetic energy spectra due to higher local resolution and produce a consistent time evolution of precipitation. The broad implication of this study is also discussed.

Numerical study of granulation in anelastic thermal convection in spherical shells

The present work investigates granulation or convective flow patterns in density-stratified (or anelastic) convection in spherical shells. The density-stratified thermal convection is typically present in astrophysical systems (such as solar convection); motivated by this, we performed a series of three-dimensional anelastic convection simulations in a spherical shell geometry using an in-house developed hybrid solver. We explored the effect of Rayleigh number and density scale height on the convective flow patterns. The granulation (or cell-like structures) are more prominent at higher density scale height and Rayleigh number. The granulation is further characterized by kinetic energy and helicity spectra. Our results support the argument that the convective flow patterns (or granulation) emerge due to inverse cascade owing to the presence of density stratification. Convective patterns (or granulation) are identified based on length scales, time scales, and flow velocity. The length scale of granules is further verified using a solar granulation model. Our analysis suggests the existence of inverse cascade and supergranulation on the spherical surface due to density-stratified thermal convection in spherical shells.

Spectrum of kinetic energy of electrons of Helium ions in functions Radial Schrodinger waves on quantum numbers (n ≤ 3)

Spectrum of kinetic energy of electrons of Helium ions in functions Radial Schrodinger waves on quantum numbers (n ≤ 3)

Generalized scaling laws for the irrotational motions bordering a turbulent region.

In turbulent free shear flows such as jets and wakes, and also in turbulent boundary layers, the turbulent region is bounded by a region of irrotational flow where the magnitude of the potential velocity fluctuations can be very high. This is particularly true close to the turbulent-nonturbulent interface layer (TNTI) that separates the regions of turbulent (rotational) and nonturbulent (irrotational) fluid motion in these flows. Previous works have shown that for distances from the TNTI x_{2} much bigger than the integral scale L in the nearby turbulent region (x_{2}≫L), the variance of the velocity fluctuations 〈u_{i}^{2}〉 (i=1,2,3) depends on the shape of the kinetic energy spectrum in the infrared region E(k)∼k^{n} [O. M. Phillips, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 51, 220 (1955)10.1017/S0305004100030073; Xavier etal., J. Fluid Mech. 918, A3 (2021)10.1017/jfm.2021.296]. Using rapid distortion theory, we derive the generalized scaling laws for the potential velocity fluctuations, at distances sufficiently far from the TNTI layer, for any value of n. While the cases n=4 (Batchelor turbulence) and n=2 (Saffman turbulence) have been previously derived, with 〈u_{i}^{2}〉∼x_{2}^{-4} and 〈u_{i}^{2}〉∼x_{2}^{-3}, for n=4 and n=2, respectively [O. M. Phillips, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 51, 220 (1955)10.1017/S0305004100030073; Xavier etal., J. Fluid Mech. 918, A3 (2021)10.1017/jfm.2021.296.], we extend these results by including any other value of n. In particular, we obtain 〈u_{i}^{2}〉∼x_{2}^{-2} and 〈u_{i}^{2}〉∼x_{2}^{-4}, for n=1 and n≥5, respectively, while n=3 yields 〈u_{i}^{2}〉∼x_{2}^{-4}ln(x_{2}). These theoretical results are confirmed by direct numerical simulations of turbulent fronts evolving into an irrotational flow region in the absence of mean shear.

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a seven blade highly-skewed propeller operating underneath a free surface

The performance of a highly-skewed seven-blade propeller operating underneath a free surface was simulated with different loading conditions using detached-eddy simulation and volume of fluid method. The presentation includes the hydrodynamic loads and distribution of the velocity, followed by a discussion of the vortex structure and free surface variation. Finally, the analysis delves into the power spectra of pressure and turbulence kinetic energy. The results suggest that there a decrease in the thrust, torque, and efficiency of the propeller. The blade tip vortex is observed to be distorted and delayed in merging in free surface condition. The shaft frequency, three times the shaft frequency, and blade frequency still make contributions in the far wake at J = 0.71 for free surface condition.

Surface and Sub‐Surface Kinetic Energy Wavenumber‐Frequency Spectra in Global Ocean Models and Observations

AbstractThis paper examines spectra of horizontal kinetic energy (HKE) in the surface and sub‐surface ocean, with an emphasis on internal gravity wave (IGW) motions, in global high‐resolution ocean simulations. Horizontal wavenumber‐frequency spectra of surface HKE are computed over seven oceanic regions from two global simulations of the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and three global simulations of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm). In regions with high IGW activity, high surface HKE variance in the horizontal wavenumber‐frequency spectra is aligned along IGW linear dispersion curves. For both HYCOM and MITgcm, and in almost all regions, finer horizontal resolution yields more energetic supertidal IGW continuum spectra. The ratio of high‐horizontal‐wavenumber variance in semi‐diurnal and supertidal motions relative to lower‐frequency motions, a quantity of great interest for swath altimetry, depends on the model employed and the horizontal resolution within the model, implying that quantitative predictions of the partition between low‐ and high‐frequency motions taken from particular simulations should be treated with care. The frequency‐vertical wavenumber spectra, frequency spectra, and vertical wavenumber spectra from the models are compared to spectra computed from McLane profilers at nine locations. In general, MITgcm spectra match the McLane profiler spectra more closely at high frequencies (|ω| > 4.5 cpd). In both models, vertical wavenumber spectra roll off more steeply than observations at high vertical wavenumbers (m > 10−2 cpm). The vertical wavenumber spectra in such models is an important target for improvement, due to turbulence production and dissipation that takes place at high vertical wavenumbers.

Decomposition of the Horizontal Wind Divergence Associated With the Rossby, Mixed Rossby‐Gravity, Inertia‐Gravity, and Kelvin Waves on the Sphere

AbstractThe paper presents a new method for the decomposition of the horizontal wind divergence among linear waves on the sphere: inertia‐gravity (IG), mixed Rossby‐gravity (MRG), Kelvin and Rossby waves. The work is motivated by the need to quantify the vertical velocity and momentum fluxes in the tropics where the distinction between the Rossby and gravity regime, present in the extratropics, becomes obliterated. The method leads to divergence power spectra as a function of latitude and pressure. The spectra follow the same power laws as the vertical kinetic energy spectra for different wave types. The key novel aspect of the work is the coexistence of wave types at the same zonal wavenumbers. Applied to ERA5 data in August 2018, the new method reveals that the zonally‐integrated Kelvin wave divergence makes up about 19% of the upper‐troposphere divergence within 10°S–10°N. The MRG wave divergence has four times smaller magnitude. The relative roles of the two waves vary with scale. Overall small roles of the Kelvin and MRG waves in the tropical divergence is explained by decomposing their kinetic energies into rotational and divergent parts. The beta effects produces less then 5% of the tropospheric divergence associated with Rossby waves. The majority of divergence belongs to IG modes and is nearly equipartitioned between the eastward‐ and westward‐propagating IG modes in the upper troposphere, whereas stratospheric partitioning depends on the background flow.

The Rotational and Divergent Kinetic Energy Spectra of Geostrophic Vortices and Inertia‐Gravity Waves

AbstractThe rotational and divergent kinetic energy (RKE and DKE) spectra of geostrophic vortices (Rossby waves; RWs) and inertia‐gravity waves (IGWs) in the global atmosphere are investigated with ERA5 reanalysis. The separation of RWs and IGWs in physical space is based on the normal‐mode decomposition, and the Helmholtz decomposition produces their RKE and DKE spectra at different layers, with a focus on spherical wavenumbers 10 ≤ l ≤ 100. In the upper troposphere and the middle and lower stratosphere, the RKE spectra of the total mode closely resemble the horizontal kinetic energy (HKE) spectra of RWs over most wavenumbers; the DKE spectra of the total mode are more comparable to the DKE spectra rather than the HKE spectra of IGWs, although their slopes are similar. The HKE of RWs is dominated by its rotational component, accounting for more than 80% of the HKE in most ranges of concern. Although the HKE of IGWs is dominated by its divergent component, its rotation component is also significant, with an average percentage exceeding 25% in all three vertical layers analyzed. Care must be taken when employing divergence as a proxy of IGWs, as the DKE may underestimate the HKE of IGWs. With the increase of altitude and the decrease of scale, the contribution of the divergent component increases in the horizontal circulation of both RWs and IGWs.

Comparison of 4-dimensional variational and ensemble optimal interpolation data assimilation systems using a Regional Ocean Modeling System (v3.4) configuration of the eddy-dominated East Australian Current system

Abstract. Ocean models must be regularly updated through the assimilation of observations (data assimilation) in order to correctly represent the timing and locations of eddies. Since initial conditions play an important role in the quality of short-term ocean forecasts, an effective data assimilation scheme to produce accurate state estimates is key to improving prediction. Western boundary current regions, such as the East Australia Current system, are highly variable regions, making them particularly challenging to model and predict. This study assesses the performance of two ocean data assimilation systems in the East Australian Current system over a 2-year period. We compare the time-dependent 4-dimensional variational (4D-Var) data assimilation system with the more computationally efficient, time-independent ensemble optimal interpolation (EnOI) system, across a common modelling and observational framework. Both systems assimilate the same observations: satellite-derived sea surface height, sea surface temperature, vertical profiles of temperature and salinity (from Argo floats), and temperature profiles from expendable bathythermographs. We analyse both systems' performance against independent data that are withheld, allowing a thorough analysis of system performance. The 4D-Var system is 25 times more expensive but outperforms the EnOI system against both assimilated and independent observations at the surface and subsurface. For forecast horizons of 5 d, root-mean-squared forecast errors are 20 %–60 % higher for the EnOI system compared to the 4D-Var system. The 4D-Var system, which assimilates observations over 5 d windows, provides a smoother transition from the end of the forecast to the subsequent analysis field. The EnOI system displays elevated low-frequency (>1 d) surface-intensified variability in temperature and elevated kinetic energy at length scales less than 100 km at the beginning of the forecast windows. The 4D-Var system displays elevated energy in the near-inertial range throughout the water column, with the wavenumber kinetic energy spectra remaining unchanged upon assimilation. Overall, this comparison shows quantitatively that the 4D-Var system results in improved predictability as the analysis provides a smoother and more dynamically balanced fit between the observations and the model's time-evolving flow. This advocates the use of advanced, time-dependent data assimilation methods, particularly for highly variable oceanic regions, and motivates future work into further improving data assimilation schemes.

Spatial Scales of Kinetic Energy in the Arctic Ocean

AbstractDespite the importance of the Arctic Ocean for the large‐scale circulation and climate, there is still a knowledge gap in our understanding of the spatial characteristics of the Arctic Ocean circulation, especially for the mesoscale. This paper investigates the spatial characteristics of the Arctic Ocean circulation using a simulation with 1 km horizontal resolution. We revealed that there are two peaks in the kinetic energy (KE) spectral density at the 400 m depth, one at the gyre scale of the Arctic Circumpolar Boundary Current (centered at 1,700–2,000 km), and the other associated with the mesoscale (at about 60 km). However, at the 70 m depth, the boundary currents tend to mask the spectrum peak associated with the mesoscale. The KE spectrum exhibits a power‐law scaling typical for ocean eddies. We found that about 80% (50%) of the KE is on scales smaller than 100 km (30 km). The maximum KE content is in the 10–20 km scale band in most of the eddy‐rich regions of the abyssal ocean. The seasonality of the KE spectrum and KE content inside the Arctic Ocean follow the seasonality of eddy activity and baroclinicity, with low values in spring and maxima in late summer to autumn, and the seasonal variation is stronger at the 70 m depth than the 400 m depth. The strong concentration of KE on the very small spatial scales warrants future studies on energy transfer between scales in the Arctic Ocean.

Vibration effect on Rayleigh–Taylor instability of sedimenting suspension

In this paper, the effect of vertical vibration on the Rayleigh–Taylor instability at the lower interface of a sedimenting suspension layer sandwiched between viscous fluids is studied numerically and theoretically. It is shown numerically that the vibration suppresses the amplitudes of interface perturbations and enlarges the widths of granular fingers, postponing the nonlinear growth stage. By modeling the suspension as a fluid with its effective density and viscosity, stability analyses are carried out, and the dominant growth rate and the dominant wave number predicted by the dispersion relation agree with the numerical results, especially for cases with strong vibrations. Because of the small-scale flow induced by the particles, high vibration acceleration amplitude and low vibration frequency, which correspond to a large vibration power input, increase the kinetic energy spectra at the high wave number regime, a phenomenon contrary to the vibration effect for pure fluid cases.

Method of kinetic energy reconstruction from time-of-flight mass spectra.

We present a method for the reconstruction of ion kinetic energy distributions from ion time-of-flight mass spectra through ion trajectory simulations. In particular, this method is applicable to complicated spectrometer geometries with largely anisotropic ion collection efficiencies. A calibration procedure using a single ion mass peak allows the accurate determination of parameters related to the spectrometer calibration, experimental alignment, and instrument response function, which improves the agreement between simulations and experiment. The calibrated simulation is used to generate a set of basis functions for the time-of-flight spectra, which are then used to transform from time-of-flight to kinetic-energy spectra. We demonstrate this reconstruction method on a recent pump-probe experiment by Asmussen etal. [Asmussen etal., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 23, 15138, (2021)] on helium nanodroplets and retrieve time-resolved kinetic-energy-release spectra for the ions from ion time-of-flight spectra.