Physics of Wave Turbulence

A rigorously comprehensive and interdisciplinary text on wave turbulence, for graduate students and researchers in physics-related fields.

Sébastien Galtier (Author)

9781009275897, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 December 2022

360 pages
25 x 17.5 x 2.2 cm, 0.47 kg

A century ago, Lewis Fry Richardson introduced the concept of energy cascades in turbulence. Since this conceptual breakthrough, turbulence has been studied in diverse systems and our knowledge has increased considerably through theoretical, numerical, experimental and observational advances. Eddy turbulence and wave turbulence are the two regimes we can find in nature. So far, most attention has been devoted to the former regime, eddy turbulence, which is often observed in water. However, physicists are often interested in systems for which wave turbulence is relevant. This textbook deals with wave turbulence and systems composed of a sea of weak waves interacting non-linearly. After a general introduction which includes a brief history of the field, the theory of wave turbulence is introduced rigorously for surface waves. The theory is then applied to examples in hydrodynamics, plasma physics, astrophysics and cosmology, giving the reader a modern and interdisciplinary view of the subject.

Foreword. 1. General introduction
Part I. Fundamentals of Turbulence: 2. Eddy turbulence in hydrodynamics
3. Spectral theory in hydrodynamics
Exercises I
Part II. Wave Turbulence: 4. Introduction
5. Theory for capillary wave turbulence
6. Inertial wave turbulence
7. Alfvén wave turbulence
8. Wave turbulence in a compressible plasma
9. Gravitational wave turbulence
Exercises II
Appendix A: Solutions to the exercises
Appendix B: Formulary
Index.

Subject Areas: Mechanics of fluids [TGMF], Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Oceanography [seas RBKC], Atmospheric physics [PHVJ], Geophysics [PHVG], Astrophysics [PHVB], Plasma physics [PHFP], Fluid mechanics [PHDF], Nonlinear science [PBWR]