Zonal shear flows with a free surface: Hamiltonian formulation and linear and nonlinear stability |
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Authors: | B.K. Shivamoggi G.J.F. van Heijst |
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Affiliation: | 1. J. M. Burgers Centre and Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven , NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands bhimsins@mail.ucf.edu;3. J. M. Burgers Centre and Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven , NL-5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands |
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Abstract: | General theoretical results via a Hamiltonian formulation are developed for zonal shear flows with the inclusion of the vortex stretching effect of the deformed free surface (equivalent barotropic model). These results include a generalization of the Flierl–Stern–Whitehead zero angular momentum theorem for localized nonlinear structures (whether or not on a β-plane), and sufficient conditions for linear and nonlinear stability in the Liapunov sense–the latter are given as estimates in terms of an L 2-type perturbation norm which are global in time and are derived via bounds on the equilibrium potential vorticity gradient. |
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Keywords: | Zonal shear flows Stability Hamiltonian formulation |
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