Spectral portraits and the resolvent growth of a model problem associated with the Orr--Sommerfeld equation

Abstract

A model problem of the form -iεy''+q(x)y=λy, y(-1)=y(1)=0, is associated with well-known in hydrodynamics Orr--Sommerfeld operator. Here (λ) is the spectral parameter, (ε) is the small parameter which is proportional to the viscocity of the liquid and to the reciprocal of the Reynolds number, and (q(x)) is the velocity of the stationary flow of the liquid in the channel (|x|\leqslant 1). We study the behaviour of the spectrum of the corresponding model operator as (ε\to 0) with monotonous analytic functions. We assert that the sets of the accumulation points of the spectra (the limit spectral graphs) of the model and the corresponding Orr--Sommerfeld operators coincide as well as the main terms of the counting eigenvalue functions along the curves of the graphs. We prove the estimate from below for the resolvent of the operator (L(ε)) associated with the model problem. It turns out that the resolvent grows exponentially with respect to (ε) provided that the spectral parameter varies at some compacts belonging to the numerical range of the operator.