Tollmien-Schlichting waves near neutral stable curve

Abstract

In this paper, we study the linear stability of boundary layer flows over a flat plate. Tollmien, Schlichting, Lin et al. found that there exists a neutral curve, which consists of two branches: lower branch $\alpha_{low}(Re)$ and upper branch $\alpha_{up}(Re)$. Here, $\alpha$ is the wave number and $Re$ is the Reynolds number. For any $\alpha\in(\alpha_{low},\alpha_{up})$, there exist unstable modes known as Tollmien-Schlichting (T-S) waves to the linearized Navier-Stokes system. These waves play a key role during the early stage of boundary layer transition. In a breakthrough work (Duke math Jour, 165(2016)), Grenier, Guo, and Nguyen provided a rigorous construction of the unstable T-S waves. In this paper, we confirm the existence of the neutral stable curve. To achieve this, we develop a more delicate method for solving the Orr-Sommerfeld equation by borrowing some ideas from the triple-deck theory. This approach allows us to construct the T-S waves in a neighborhood of the neutral curve.