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Models for transition in shear flow
PDE & Applied Mathematics| Speaker: | Norman Lebovitz, University of Chicago |
| Location: | 1147 MSB |
| Start time: | Wed, Apr 1 2009, 4:10PM |
Description
The transition toward turbulence is explored through finding the size and
shape of the basin of attraction of the stable equilibrium point
representing the unperturbed, laminar, shear flow. The basin
boundary is an invariant set representing the threshold for the onset of
turbulence. It may contain invariant subsets (equilibrium points, periodic
orbits, chaotic invariant sets). In some parts of phase space, this
boundary consists of adjacent sheets so close together as to make the
complementary set, where turbulence is sustained, essentially
unattainable.