Collaborative Research: Equilibration of Ocean Currents via Inertial Instability

惯性不稳定性发生在旋转流动中，导致扰动以流向涡旋的形式增长。如果初始流是涡旋，这些扰动采取环形或肋形涡旋的形式。当它们放大时，它们开始相互作用，形成从最初不稳定区域移出的偶极子。在轴对称流动中，这些涡的运动和相互作用的净效应是位涡的均匀化，迫使它在不稳定区域消失，然后在不稳定区域之外稳定流动。最近，来自斯克里普斯海洋学研究所和夏威夷大学的科学家们发现，他们可以非常精确地预测这一非线性过程后的最终状态。他们现在计划发展这一理论来预测其他种类的漩涡的演变。他们的工作将涉及三维流动的数值和理论研究，并将考虑这个过程如何与其他不稳定性竞争。研究结果对海流和涡流的稳定和维持具有启示意义。此外，这些结果将对不能解决小尺度过程的模型的发展产生影响。

Inertial instability occurs in rotating flows and results in the growth of perturbations in the form of streamwise vortices. If the intial flow is avortex, these perturbations take the form of toroidal or rib vortices. As they amplify, they begin to interact, forming dipoles that move out of the initially unstable region. In axisymmetric flows, the net effect of the motion and interaction of these vortices is homogenization of potential vorticity, forcing it to vanish in the instability region and beyond which then stabilizes the flow. Recently, scientists from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the University of Hawaii have found that they can predict, with remarkable precision, the final state after this nonlinear process. They now plan to develop this theory for predicting the evolution of other kinds of vortices as well. Their work will involve numerical and theoretical research of three-dimensional flows and ill consider how this process competes with other instabilities. The results have implcations for the stabilization and maintenance of oceanic currents and eddies. In addition, the results will have an impact on the the development of models which can not resolve small scale processes.