Propagation of Waves in Shear Flows (World Scientific Series on Nonlinear Science, Series a, Vol 18)

A presentation of the state of the art in a theory of oscillatory and wave phenomena in hydrodynamical flows. It uses a unified approach for waves of different physical origins. A characteristic feature of this approach is that hydrodynamical phenomena are considered in terms of physics - that is, the complement of the conventionally employed formal mathematical approach. Some physical concepts such as wave energy and momentum in a moving fluid are analyzed, taking into account induced mean flow. The physical mechanisms responsible for hydrodynamic instability of shear flows are considered within the concept of negative energy waves. The phenomemon of over-reflection is analyzed. A number of well-known theorems of the hydrodynamic theory of stability are interpreted in terms of the interaction of the waves having different energy signs. Attention is drawn to the plasma-hydrodynamic arialogy, which is a powerful tool for physical analyses of general mechanisms of wave amplification and absorption in flows. Various wave-flow interaction problems are considered, such as sound generation in whistlers, wave scattering and amplification by vortices, methods of wave remote sounding, and some nonlinear dynamical and chaotic phenomena.