Instability patterns, wakes and topological limnit sets

Abstract

Many hydrodynamic instability patterns can be put into correspondence with a subset of characteristic surfaces of tangential discontinuities. These topological limits sets to systems of hyperbolic PDE's are locally unstable, but a certain subset associated with minimal surfaces are globally stabilized, persistent and non-dissipative. Sections of these surfaces are the spiral scrolls so often observed in hydrodynamic wakes. This method of wake production does not depend explicitly upon viscosity.