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Short-wavelength stability analysis of thin vortex rings

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DOI: 10.1063/1.1606446 · Source: OAI

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Title Short-wavelength stability analysis of thin vortex rings

Author(s) Hattori, Yuji; Fukumoto, Y

Issue Date 2003-10

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10228/565

Rights Copyright © 2003 American Institute of Physics

Kyushu Institute of Technology Academic Repository

PHYSICS OF FLUIDS VOLUME 15, NUMBER 10 OCTOBER 2003

Short-wavelength stability analysis of thin vortex rings

Y. Hattoria)
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge,
Cambridge CB3 9EW, United Kingdom
Y. Fukumoto
Graduate School of Mathematics and Space Environment Research Center, Kyushu University 33,
Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
共Received 25 September 2002; accepted 16 July 2003; published 5 September 2003兲
The linear stability of thin vortex rings are studied by short-wavelength stability analysis. The
modified Hill–Schrödinger equation for vortex rings, which incorporates curvature effect, is
derived. It is used to evaluate growth rates analytically. The growth rates are also evaluated by
numerical calculation and they agree well with analytical values for small ⑀ which is the ratio of
core radius to ring radius. Two types of vortex rings are considered: Kelvin’s vortex ring and a
Gaussian vortex ring. For Kelvin’s vortex ring the maximum first-order growth rate is found to be
256⑀. For the Gaussian vortex ring the first-order growth rate is large in the skirts of the vortex core.
165

The first-order instability is significant for both vortex rings. © 2003 American Institute of Physics.
关DOI: 10.1063/1.1606446兴

I. INTRODUCTION This local stability analysis is convenient and gives correct

The stability of vortex rings is one of the important prob-
lems in hydrodynamic stability. Compared to the parallel
flows, of which stability is studied by a number of authors,
one of the characteristic features of vortex rings is that the
vortex lines are curved along the ring radius. In this sense the
vortex ring is one of the most fundamental objects for study-
ing the curvature effect in hydrodynamic stability, which
would manifest itself also in helical vortices, circular or,
more generally, three-dimensional jets, etc.
Widnall and Tsai1 showed by normal-mode analysis that
Kelvin’s vortex ring, i.e., a thin vortex ring whose vorticity
in the core is proportional to the distance from the axis of
symmetry, is unstable to three-dimensional disturbances 共see
also Widnall et al.2兲. This Widnall–Tsai instability is caused
by the strain flow produced by the vortex ring itself. Its
mechanism is essentially the same with that of the Rankine
vortex in a two-dimensional strain field,3,4 and it is recog-
nized as the elliptical instability in the short-wave limit.5 It is
a second-order instability in the sense that the strain flow
appears at the second order in ⑀ which is defined as the ratio
of the core radius to the ring radius. Recently we found that
there exists a first-order instability for Kelvin’s vortex ring
and its growth rate is fairly large compared to that of the
Widnall–Tsai instability.6 One problem of using Kelvin’s
vortex ring is that its vorticity distribution is ideal and is not
close to that of real vortex rings observed in the experiments.
Unfortunately, however, it is not easy to carry out normal-
mode stability analysis for realistic vortex rings.
In the short-wavelength limit, the stability analysis is
reduced to solving a set of ordinary differential equations.7,8
results for various instabilities of vortices.5,9,10 For the cases
of vortex ring with and without swirl, Lifschitz11 showed by
short-wavelength stability analysis that it seems unstable ge-
nerically. He and his co-workers also calculated the growth
rates for Hill’s spherical vortex11 and for a fat vortex ring
with swirl12 共see also Rozi and Fukumoto13 for Hill’s spheri-
cal vortex兲. For thin vortex rings, however, there are no re-
sults to the authors’ knowledge.
In this paper we carry out the short-wavelength stability
analysis of two types of thin vortex ring: Kelvin’s vortex ring
and a Gaussian vortex ring, whose leading-order vorticity is
given by a Gaussian distribution. The basic flow fields of
these vortex rings are given by perturbation expansion up to
the second order. By virtue of perturbation expansion the
first-order and second-order instabilities, which have differ-
ent origins, are found separately. We calculate the corre-
sponding growth rates both analytically and numerically. The
first-order instability is shown to be significant for both vor-
tex rings.
The paper is organized as follows. In Sec. II we derive a
vortex-ring version of the Hill–Schrödinger equation which
is used to evaluate the growth rate analytically. In Sec. III we
show the results for Kelvin’s vortex ring. Both the first-order
and second-order growth rates are obtained analytically and
compared to numerical results. In Sec. IV we show the re-
sults for the Gaussian vortex ring. The first-order growth rate
is evaluated analytically for a general distribution of vortic-
ity. Both the first-order and second-order growth rates are
obtained numerically. Finally, we conclude in Sec. V.
II. SHORT-WAVELENGTH STABILITY ANALYSIS

a兲 We briefly summarize the method of short-wavelength

Permanent address: Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu Institute
of Technology, Kitakyushu 804-8550, Japan. Electronic mail: stability analysis, or local stability analysis, and derive a
hattori@mns.kyutech.ac.jp modified Hill–Schrödinger equation for vortex rings which

1070-6631/2003/15(10)/3151/13/$20.00 3151 © 2003 American Institute of Physics

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3152 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto

is used to evaluate the growth rates analytically in Secs. III

and IV. Since the short-wavelength stability analysis is one
of the standard methods, its details are omitted.
In the short-wavelength stability analysis, the distur-
bance u to the basic flow U is assumed to be in the form

u⫽exp i 冉 ⌿ 共 x,t 兲
␦ 冊 a共 x,t 兲 , 共1兲

at the leading order, where ␦ is a small parameter. Substitut-

ing it to the linearized Euler equation for incompressible
flow yields the following set of ordinary differential equa-
FIG. 1. Coordinate systems.
tions

冉 冊
dX
⫽U共 X兲 , 共2兲
dt d k⬜ 2 ␳ k 2储 k⬜ Hk⬜T

冉冊 冉冊
log ⫹trL⬜
dk d p dt k k⬜2 k 2 p
⫽⫺L T k, 共3兲 ⫽ ,
dt dt q ␻s d k⬜ q
⫺ ⫺ log ⫺trL⬜

冉 冊
da 2kkT
␳ dt k
⫽ ⫺I La, 共4兲 共7兲
dt 兩 k兩 2
where ⬜ and 储 imply the projection to r ␪ - or xy-plane and s
where Li j ⫽ ⳵ U i / ⳵ x j (X) and the superscript T stands for or z component, respectively, ␻ s is the s component of vor-
transpose. The incompressibility imposes k"a⫽0. If there ex- ticity while the r and ␪ components are zero, ␳ ⫽1⫹ ⑀ y is
ists a set of initial conditions for which a is unbounded in the distance from the axis of symmetry of the vortex ring,
time, the basic flow is linearly unstable.7,8 and
We assume that the vortex ring is steady and has no swirl
so that its velocity field is parallel to the cross section by a k⫽ 兩 k兩 , k⬜ ⫽ 兩 k⬜ 兩 , k 储 ⫽ 兩 k储 兩 ,
plane which includes the axis of symmetry. Then the fluid k k
particle moves along a closed loop periodically inside the p⫽ ␳ k •a , q⫽ 共 k ⫻a 兲 •e ,
k⬜ ⬜ ⬜ k⬜ ⬜ ⬜ 储
core of the vortex ring. We assume that the wavevector is
periodic; the condition for periodicity is discussed later. Then
the matrix in the amplitude equation 共4兲 is periodic as well.
Therefore the Floquet theory applies to the amplitude; the
H⫽L⬜ 冉 0
⫺1
1
0
冊 ,

solution to Eq. 共4兲 satisfies e储 ⫽unit vector in s- or z-direction.

a共 t⫹T 兲 ⫽F共 T 兲 a共 t 兲 , 共5兲 Equation 共7兲 is a vortex-ring version of Eq. 共2.12兲 of Bayly
et al.14 Eliminating p from it, we obtain
where T is a period which depends on the particle path gen-
erally and F(T) is the Floquet matrix. The growth rate of d2 q
amplitude is determined by the eigenvalues ␮ i of F(T) as ⫹V 共 t 兲 q⫽0, 共8兲
dt 2
log兩 ␮ i 兩 where
␴ i⫽ . 共6兲

冋 冉 冊 册
T 2 ␻ s k 2储 k⬜T Hk⬜ d2 k⬜ d
Thus our task is to solve either analytically or numerically V共 t 兲⫽ ⫹ log ⫹ 共 trL⬜ 兲
k⬜2 k 2 dt 2 k dt
Eqs. 共2兲–共4兲 and evaluate ␴ ⫽maxi ␴i ; the basic flow is ex-
ponentially unstable if ␴⬎0.
The amplitude equation 共4兲 can be reduced to the Hill–
⫺
d
dt冋冉 冊 册
log
k⬜
k
2
⫹trL⬜ . 共9兲
Schrödinger equation as done by Bayly et al. for two-
This is the Hill–Schrödinger equation for thin vortex rings.
dimensional incompressible flows14 and Leblanc for a two-
Note that there are additional terms trL⬜ and its derivative in
dimensional compressible line vortex.15 Let us take the
Eq. 共9兲; this is due to the curvature of the vortex ring.
toroidal coordinate system (r, ␪ ,s), where s is the length
Before going to particular cases, we remark on the peri-
along the center of the torus, and the local Cartesian coordi-
odicity of the wavevector. In the derivation above, we have
nate system (x,y,z) centered on r⫽s⫽0 for a vortex ring as
assumed that the wavevector is periodic. For a general steady
shown in Fig. 1. The expressions below are valid both in the
basic flow, there are two types of wavevector solution: one is
toroidal coordinate system generally and in the Cartesian co-
periodic and the other grows algebraically. The latter is often
ordinate system for the section z⫽0. The length is non-
discarded since it does not give rise to exponential instability.
dimensionalized by the ring radius and scaled by a small but
The periodicity is rigorously satisfied when the initial
finite parameter ⑀, which is the ratio of the core radius to the
wavevector satisfies
ring radius. Then the amplitude equation is represented for
the case of vortex rings as U共 X共 0 兲兲 •k共 0 兲 ⫽0. 共10兲

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3153

For a Gaussian vortex ring, we impose Eq. 共10兲. For Kelvin’s 15⑀ r 0
ring, however, the wavevector is periodic up to O( ⑀ ) for any ␴ (1) ⫽ 冑61⫺60 cos 2 ␾ ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 共14兲
256
initial condition. Thus we consider both the case with Eq.
共10兲 and the case without Eq. 共10兲. 共see Appendix B for the details兲. Thus we have

165
␴ max
(1)
⫽ ⑀ r ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , 共15兲
III. STABILITY OF KELVIN’S VORTEX RING 256 0
A. Analytical results for growth rates at ␾⫽␲/2. The O( ⑀ ) growth rate ␴ (1) is maximal at r 0 ⫽1.
Here we calculate the growth rate for Kelvin’s vortex Next we consider the second-order growth rate. We set
ring. We use the Cartesian coordinate system here. Of ␾⫽0 or ␲/2 so that the wavevector is periodic up to this
course, the following calculation can be made in the coordi- order. For ␾⫽0, the potential V(t) turns out to be

冉 冊
nate system (r, ␪ ,s), but there arises a singularity when we
15 83 2
evaluate the second-order growth rate; in fact this singularity V 共 t 兲 ⫽4 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲 ⫹ ⑀ ⫺ sin ␹ ⫹18 sin4 ␹ r 0 sin t
can be removed by choosing the stagnation point, relative to 4 4
the comoving frame, as the origin, but we prefer to use the
expression of the basic flow by Widnall and Tsai.1 The ve-
locity field and the vorticity of Kelvin’s vortex ring is repre-
冋
⫹ ⑀ 2 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲 5⫹ ⫺ 再 冉 15
8
⫹4A sin2 ␹ 冊 冎
冉 冊
冉 冊
sented as 189 301 2 2071 4 81
⫺ ⫹ sin ␹ ⫺ sin ␹ ⫹ sin6 ␹ r 20

冉 冊
32 16 32 2
⫺y
5
⫺ 85 x 2 ⫺ 78 y 2 ⫺ 12 z 2

再
8

U⫽ x ⫹ ⑀ 1 45 15 2
4 xy ⫹ 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲 ⫺A 共 6⫹4 sin2 ␹ 兲 ⫹ ⫹ sin ␹
0 16 8

冉 冊 冉 冊冎 册
xz
189 645 2 81
Ay⫹ 3
x 2 y⫹ 1
y 3 ⫺ 83 yz 2 ⫹ ⫺ ⫹ sin ␹ ⫺ sin4 ␹ r 20 cos 2t
16 16 32 32 2
⫹⑀2 Ax⫹ 1
16 x 3⫹ 3
16 xy 2 ⫺ 38 xz 2 , 共11兲 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 共16兲
⫺ xyz
3
4 共see Appendix A兲. Thus the resonance by the O( ⑀ 2 ) term
␻ s ⫽2 ␳ ⫽2 共 1⫹ ⑀ y 兲 , 共12兲 occurs around cos ␹(2)⫽ 21. The corresponding growth rate is
found to be
up to the second order in ⑀, where A⫽(15/16)
⫺(3/4)log 8/⑀ 共see Appendix A兲. Equations 共2兲 and 共3兲 with
the basic flow above are solved up to O( ⑀ 2 ); see Appendix A
for the details.
␴ (2) ⫽ ⑀ 2 冉 27
64
8 135 63 2
log ⫺ ⫺
⑀ 512 128 0 冊
r ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 共17兲

First, let us consider the first-order growth rate. We do 共see Appendix B for the details兲. Since the O( ⑀ 2 ) perturba-
not impose Eq. 共10兲 since the wavevector is periodic up to tion to the basic flow is essentially a strain field, the corre-
the first order for general ␾, which is the angle between an sponding growth rate ␴ (2) is related to the growth rate of the
initial wavevector and the outward normal vector to a elliptical instability5 as

冏 冏
streamline. By substituting the solutions X(t) and k(t) to Eq.
共9兲, the potential V(t) of the Hill–Schrödinger equation 共8兲 9 15 2
␴ (2) 兩 r 0 ⫽0 ⫽ A⫺ ⑀ . 共18兲
becomes 16 32
V 共 t 兲 ⫽4 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲 Note that 兩 A⫺(15/32) 兩 ⑀ 2 is the strain rate of O( ⑀ 2 ) pertur-

⫹⑀r0 冋冉 15 37 2
2
⫺ sin ␹ ⫹12 sin4 ␹ sin t
2 冊 bation at the stagnation point (x,y)⫽(0, 85 ⑀ ⫹O( ⑀ 2 )).
A similar analysis gives the following growth rate for
␾⫽␲/2:
⫹ ⫺冉 15 9 2
4
⫺ sin ␹ ⫹6 sin4 ␹ sin共 t⫹2 ␾ 兲
4 冊 册 ␴ (2) ⫽ ⑀ 2 冋冉 27
64
8 135 5 2
log ⫺ ⫺ r
⑀ 512 8 0 冊 冉 冊册
2
⫹
15 2
r
64 0
2 1/2

⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 ,
where ␹ is the angle between the vortex core axis and k(0)
and r 0 is the ‘‘O(1)-radius’’ of the orbit. According to the
Floquet theory, the resonance occurs if 关 4(1⫺sin2 ␹)兴1/2
⫽n/2; the most important resonance occurs at cos ␹(1)
⫽⫾1/4. We restrict our attention to 0⭐␹⭐␲/2 since the case
of ␲/2⭐␹⭐␲ exhibits the identical behavior. By using
Mathieu’s method for the Hill–Schrödinger equation,16 the
corresponding growth rate is found to be
共13兲
⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , 共19兲
which takes the same maximum 共18兲 with ␾⫽0 at r 0 ⫽0. It is
worth noting that the maximum of the first-order growth rate
for fixed ␾ varies from 共15/256兲⑀ for ␾⫽0 to 共165/256兲⑀
for ␾⫽␲/2, while that of the second-order growth rate is the
same for ␾⫽0 and ␲/2. In fact, in the case of plane pure
shear, the growth rate does not depend on ␾ as the potential
turns out to be

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 冉 冊
3154 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto

V 共 t 兲 ⫽4 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲 ⫹␧ 共 1⫺sin2 ␹ 兲共 6⫹4 sin2 ␹ 兲 1

⫺sin ␾ cos ␤ ⫺ cos ␾ sin ␤
⫻cos共 2t⫹ ␾ 兲 ⫹O 共 ␧ 2 兲 , 4
1
v⫽ cos ␾ cos ␤ ⫺ sin ␾ sin ␤ , 0⭐ ␤ ⬍ ␲ ,
where ␧ is the rate of strain. Thus the strong dependence of 4
the first-order growth rate on ␾ seems to be a curvature ef- 冑15
fect. sin ␤
4
We should be careful about the effectiveness of the re-
sults on the first-order instability. When ␾⫽0 the wavevector in a rotating frame.17 In the inertial frame it becomes

冉 冊
is not periodic if we include the higher-order terms; to
O( ⑀ 2 ), the magnitude of the wavevector k is u⫽cos共 k共 t 兲 •x兲

k 2 ⫽1⫹ ⑀ 共 periodic兲 ⫹ ⑀ 2 ⫺ 冋 21 2
册
sin ␹ sin共 2 ␾ 兲 t⫹ 共 periodic兲 .
3
8 冉
3 5 1
冊
cos t⫹ ␾ ⫺ ␤ ⫺ cos t⫹ ␾ ⫹ ␤
2 8 2 冉 冊
16
共20兲
⫻
3
8 冉3
2
5
8
1
冊 冉
sin t⫹ ␾ ⫺ ␤ ⫺ sin t⫹ ␾ ⫹ ␤
2 冊 ,

Thus k evolves algebraically while k 储 is still periodic for

␾⫽0,␲/2. Since the resonance occurs in a region of ␹ around
冑15
4
1
cos t⫺ ␤
2 冉 冊
␹ (1) of which the width is proportional to ⑀ r 0 , the wavevec-
with k(t) given by O(1) term of 共A4兲. The equation for
tor fails to satisfy the resonance condition when k becomes
disturbance energy is
smaller than the initial value by O( ⑀ r 0 ). Therefore the ex-
ponential instability saturates around t⫽t f ⫽O( ⑀ ⫺1 ), which
leads to 冉 冊
d u2
dt 2
⫽⫺u• 关共 u"“ 兲 U兴 ⫺u"“p.

The average of right-hand-side is

兩 a共 t f 兲 兩
log ⬃ ␴ (1) t f ⫽O 共 1 兲 .
兩 a共 0 兲 兩 ⫺u• 关共 u"“ 兲 U兴
15
In this case the first-order instability would not be important. ⫽⑀r0 关 5 cos共 2 ␾ ⫹2 ␤ 兲 ⫺6 cos 2 ␤ 兴 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲
256
For ␾⫽␲/2, however, k is periodic up to O( ⑀ 2 ). In fact,
there is O( ⑀ 2 ) difference between the period of the particle 15
motion and that of the wavevector 共Appendix B兲. This im- ⬇⑀r0 冑61⫺60 cos 2 ␾ cos共 2 ␤ ⫹⌬ ␤ 兲 ,
256
plies ␾ may differ from ␲/2 by O(1) around t⫽O( ⑀ ⫺2 ). In
other words, the exponential instability saturates around t where ⌬ ␤ ⫽⫺tan⫺1关5 sin 2␾/(6⫺5 cos 2␾)兴. The maximum
⫽O( ⑀ ⫺2 ), which is much larger than t f for ␾⫽0,␲/2. Thus growth rate for fixed ␾ is then evaluated as
the corresponding first-order instability, which has the
growth rate 共15兲, would be important since the disturbance 1 ⫺u• 关共 u"“ 兲 U兴 15
␴⫽ ⬇⑀r0 冑61⫺60 cos 2 ␾ ,
grows exponentially for a much longer time. 2 u2 256

B. Energy argument
The first-order growth rate can also be obtained by an
energy argument as in Waleffe.5 The inertial wave solution in
an unbounded uniformly rotating fluid is known.17 For the
first-order resonance the angular frequency is given by
2 cos ␹⫽1/2 at the leading order. Then the disturbance or
inertial wave for ⑀⫽0 is given by
2
which coincides with Eq. 共14兲.
C. Numerical results
Equations 共2兲–共4兲 are also solved numerically to evalu-
ate the growth rates. We consider the cases ␾⫽0 and ␾⫽␲/2
since for these values of ␾ the wavevector is periodic up to
O( ⑀ 2 ) so that the growth rates can be obtained with suffi-

冉 t t
uR ⫽cos共 ␬"r兲 ␬ˆ ⫻ v cos ⫹ v sin , 冊 cient accuracy. Numerical and analytical results are shown in

冉 冊
2 2 Figs. 2– 4. Figure 2 shows the growth rate obtained numeri-
cally by contour lines. Unstable regions are observed around
␹ (1) ⬇0.42␲ and ␹ (2) ⫽ ␲ /3. Another unstable region with
冑15 small growth rates is observed around ␹⫽0.23␲. This is due
cos ␾
4 to the third resonance by the O( ⑀ ) term.
␬ 冑15 Figure 3 compares the numerical and analytical values of
␬ˆ ⫽ ⫽ sin ␾ , the growth rates as functions of r 0 . The numerical value is
␬ 4
the extremal growth rate for fixed r 0 in Fig. 2. The extrema
1 around ␹ ⫽ ␹ (1) and ␹ (2) are identified as first and second
4 orders, respectively. They are in good agreement for ⑀⫽0.02.

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3155

FIG. 2. The contour lines of growth rate. Kelvin’s vortex ring. The letter
‘‘S’’ denotes a stable region. 共a兲 ⑀⫽0.1,␾⫽␲/2, 共b兲 ⑀⫽0.3,␾⫽0.

For ⑀⫽0.1 the difference between numerical and analytical

values is visible for large r 0 . This is probably due to a
higher-order effect.
Figure 4 compares the maxima of ␴ (1) and ␴ (2) in the
core of vortex ring as functions of ⑀. The second-order
growth rate for ␾⫽␲/2 is omitted since it is almost identical
with that for ␾⫽0. The numerical and analytical values are
in good agreement except that the numerical value of ␴ (1)
for ␾⫽0 is much larger than the corresponding analytical
value for large ⑀ as seen in Fig. 3. According to the analytical
results, the first-order instability is stronger than the second-
order instability for 0⬍⑀⬍1; this range would entirely in-
clude the values of ⑀ for which the base flow given by the
asymptotic expansions are convergent. Moreover even for
moderate values of ⑀, the approximation is better than ex-
pected within a region of r⬃O( ⑀ 0 ) since the coefficients of
the asymptotic expansions for velocity field decrease expo-
nentially with order of expansions.18
FIG. 4. The maximal growth rates as functions of ⑀. Kelvin’s vortex ring.
The numerical results are shown by the symbols 共circles: first-order, ␾⫽␲/2,
crosses: first-order, ␾⫽0, squares: second-order兲 and the analytical results
are shown by the lines 共solid line: first-order, ␾⫽␲/2, broken line: first-
order, ␾⫽0, dotted line: second-order兲.
IV. STABILITY OF A GAUSSIAN VORTEX RING
A. Basic flow
A general procedure for obtaining the flow field of a thin
vortex ring up to O( ⑀ 2 ) is described in Fukumoto and
Moffatt.19 Here we give a brief summary of their procedure
that is required for the following analysis. The leading-order
vorticity distribution is assumed to be a Gaussian distribution
␣
␻ (0) ⫽ exp共 ⫺ ␣ r 2 兲 ,
␲

where ␣ is a function of time in the presence of viscosity but

otherwise is an arbitrary constant. Then the velocity field is
given by

U r(0) ⫽0,

1
␪ ⫽
U (0) 关 1⫺exp共 ⫺ ␣ r 2 兲兴 ,
2␲r

where U r and U ␪ are the radial and the azimuthal compo-

nents of velocity fields, respectively. Note that the present
expressions have some differences in the signs and the defi-
nition of ␪ from the expressions in Fukumoto and Moffatt.19
The first-order and second-order fields are obtained by
solving the equations of motion expanded by ⑀ at each order.
The first-order flow field is

1 (1)
U r(1) ⫽⫺ ˜␺ 11 共 r 兲 cos ␪ ,
r

␪ ⫽
U (1) 冉 d˜␺ 11
dr
(1)
冊
⫺rU ␪(0) 共 r 兲 sin ␪ ,
FIG. 3. The first-order and second-order growth rates as functions of r 0 .
Kelvin’s vortex ring. The numerical results are shown by symbols 共crosses: where
first-order, squares: second-order兲 and the analytical results are shown by
lines 共solid line: first-order, broken line: second-order兲. Left: ␾⫽0, right:
␾⫽␲/2. 共a兲 ⑀⫽0.02, 共b兲 ⑀⫽0.1. ˜␺ 11
(1)
⫽⌿ 11
(1)
⫺c 11
(1) (0)
U␪ ,

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3156 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto

⌿ 11
(1)
⫽U (0)
␪ 再 冕 r2
2
⫹
r

0
g 共 r ⬘ 兲 dr ⬘
r ⬘ 关 U (0)
␪ 共 r ⬘ 兲兴
2 冎 ,

g共 r 兲⫽ 冕0
r
r ⬘ 关 U (0)
␪ 共 r ⬘ 兲兴 dr ⬘
2

⫽
1
冋 1 1 1 ␣
E 共 ␣ r 2 兲 ⫺ E1 共 2 ␣ r 2 兲 ⫹log r⫹ ␥ ⫹ ln .
4␲2 1 2 2 2 2 册
Here E1 denotes the exponential integral function and
␥⫽0.577 215 664 9¯ is Euler’s constant. The coefficient c 11
(1)

is chosen as
1 1
(1)
c 11 ⬇ 2.590 273 9⫽ 0.648 184 8.
4␣ ␣
(1)
In fact, c 11 can be arbitrary because of the freedom in
choosing the position of the origin r⫽0; the above choice is
the most natural since it keeps the radial position of the ori-
gin constant up to O( ⑀ 3 ) at a finite Reynolds number.
The second-order flow field is given by

冉 冊
FIG. 5. Streamlines 共left兲 and iso-vorticity lines 共right兲 of a Gaussian vortex
1 (1) 2 ˜␺ 21
(2) ring. The broken lines in the iso-vorticity lines correspond to ␻ s ⫽0. 共a兲
U r(2) ⫽ ˜␺ 11 ⫺ sin 2 ␪ , ⑀⫽0.02, 共b兲 ⑀⫽0.1.
2 r

␪ ⫽ ⫺
U (2) 冉 r 2 (0) r d˜␺ 11
2
U␪ ⫹
2 dr
(1)
⫺
d˜␺ 21
dr
(2)
cos 2 ␪ . 冊 B. Analytical results for the first-order growth rate

Here ˜␺ 21
(2)
is obtained by solving the following second-order The first-order growth rate can be evaluated analytically
ordinary differential equation for a general leading-order flow field. Equations 共2兲 and
共3兲 are solved up to the first order; see Appendix C for the
冉 d2
dr 2⫹
1 d 4
⫺ ⫺a ˜␺ 21
r dr r 2
(2)
冊 details. The resulting V(t) in the Hill–Schrödinger equation
共8兲 is
b (1) 2 V 共 t 兲 ⫽2 ␻ (0) 共 r 0 兲 ⍀ (0) 共 r 0 兲 cos2 ␹
⫽ 共 ˜␺ 11 ␺ 11
兲 ⫹ra ˜ (1)
4 ⫹ ⑀ U (0)
␪ 共 r 0 兲 F 共 r 0 兲 sin共 ⍀ 共 r 0 兲 t 兲 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 , 共22兲
(0) 2

⫹
1
冉 ␪ ⫹r ␻ ⫹
⫺rU (0) 2 (0)
⫺
d˜␺ 11
(1) ˜␺ 11
(1)
冊 共21兲
where ⍀ (0) ⫽U (0)
␪ /r and

冋
,
2 dr r
where a and b are given by F 共 r 兲 ⫽⍀ (0) ⫹2 cos2 ␹ 共 1⫺4 sin2 ␹ 兲 ␻ (0) ⫺⍀ (0)

a⫽
1
U ␪(0)
d␻ (0)
dr
, b⫽
1
U (0)
␪
da
dr
, ⫺
r 2
g
共 U ␪(0) 兲 2
再 1
共 2 sin2 ␹ ⫺1 兲 ␻ (0) ⫹ ⍀ (0)
2 冎册 .

with the boundary conditions The O( ⑀ ) term of V(t) causes parametric resonance if
˜␺ 21
(2)
⬀r 2 as r→0, (2 ␻ (0) ⍀ (0) cos2 ␹)1/2 is an integral multiple of ⍀ (0) /2, imply-
ing
˜␺ 21
(2)
⬃
4
Ż ⫹再
r 2 (0) 1
8␲
log
8
⑀r
⫺2 冋 冉 冊 册冎 ⫹
d (1)
4
␻ (0)
⍀ (0) ⫽
n2
8 cos2 ␹
, 共 n⫽1,2, ¯ 兲 , 共23兲
as r→⬁,
among which the growth rate is of O( ⑀ ) only for n⫽1. The
where d (1) ⫽c 11
(1)
/2␲ . We set ␣⫽1 in the following. We solve resonances for Kelvin’s case are recovered by substituting
the ordinary differential equation above numerically. the constant value 2 for ␻ (0) /⍀ (0) . There are contributions to
The streamlines and iso-vorticity lines are shown in Fig. the resonances with n⭓2 from higher-order forcing terms
5 for ⑀⫽0.02 and 0.1. Note that there is a region of weak with angular frequency n⍀ (0) in V(t). Figure 6 shows the
negative vorticity, which would lead to the centrifugal insta- resonance curves in (r, ␹ ) plane for the Gaussian vortex ring.
bility; for ⑀⫽0.02, it is the upper side of the dashed line Note that the resonance curve for n⫽4 reduces to the origin
corresponding to ␻ s ⫽0, and for ⑀⫽0.1, it is the region be- and there is no resonance for n⬎4 when the forcing is in-
tween the two dashed lines. This region of negative vorticity finitesimal; there can be resonances for n⬎4 if the forcing is
is likely an artifact of truncated perturbation expansion. This not weak, as observed in the case of two-dimensional multi-
point is discussed in some detail later. polar strain.9

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3157

FIG. 8. First-order and second-order growth rates as functions of r 0 . Gauss-

ian vortex ring. The numerical results are shown by the symbols 共crosses:
first-order, squares: second-order兲 with lines and the analytical value of the
FIG. 6. Resonance curves determined by Eq. 共23兲. Gaussian vortex ring. first-order growth rate is shown by the solid line. 共a兲 ⑀⫽0.02, 共b兲 ⑀⫽0.1.

By using the resonance condition 共23兲, the first-order Finally, the maximum growth rates are plotted against ⑀
growth rate is calculated to be in Fig. 9. For large values of ⑀ the basic flow possesses some

冏 冉 冊 冏
amount of error which is due to truncating the perturbation
1 2 3 3 1 g expansions, but the error may not be significant within a
␴ (1) ⫽ ⑀ 兩 U ␪(0) 兩 sin ␹ ⫺ ⫺ ⫺ sin2 ␹ 2 (0) 2
2 8 8 4 r 0共 U ␪ 兲 region of r⬃O( ⑀ 0 ␣ ⫺1/2) in the same way as for Kelvin’s
vortex ring. Numerical results suggest that the first-order
⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 . 共24兲 growth rate is larger than the second-order one for ⑀ ⬍ ⑀ c
Note that r 0 and ␹ are related through 共23兲 with n⫽1. ⬇0.35, while the analytical line of the first-order growth rate
suggests ⑀ c ⬇0.2; therefore, the first-order instability is
C. Numerical results stronger than or the same order of magnitude with the
second-order instability for the values of ⑀ for which the base
Equations 共2兲–共4兲 are solved numerically using the flow
flow is convergent.
field up to O( ⑀ 2 ). Figure 7 shows the contour lines of
growth rate. Unstable regions are seen around the resonance
D. A remark on the effect of negative vorticity
curves in Fig. 6 with small shifts in r; this is partly because
r 0 is simply replaced by Y max , which is the maximum value The asymptotic expansions for the Gaussian core entail
of Y (t) for each periodic orbit. nonuniformity in convergence around r⬃O( ⑀ ⫺1/3␣ ⫺1/2).
Figure 8 compares the numerical and analytical results. The presence of a region of negative vorticity is traced to this
As seen in this figure, the first-order growth rate becomes difficulty 共see Fig. 5兲.19 One may doubt that the results above
fairly large around r 0 ⬇1.8⬃2. For small r 0 , it is propor- are related to the centrifugal instability due to the negative
tional to 25615
⑀ U (0)
␪ , which is essentially the same with vorticity. If this is the case, these results would be wrong
Kelvin’s case. For larger r 0 , however, the change in ␹, which since the actual vortex rings are likely to have no region of
is due to the varying frequency ratio ␻ (0) /⍀ (0) in the reso- negative vorticity. However, the unstable region correspond-
nance condition 共23兲, has a significant effect of changing the ing to the centrifugal instability is found in a separate region
first-order growth rate. The numerical values agree with the
analytical value 共24兲 with small shifts in r 0 . The behavior of
the second-order growth rate, the one for the region emanat-
ing from (r 0 , ␹ )⫽(0,␲ /3), is rather similar to that of
Kelvin’s vortex ring; the change in ␹ has no major effect
except for that it gives a cut-off in r 0 around 1.5.

FIG. 9. The maximum growth rates as functions of ⑀. Gaussian vortex ring.

The numerical results are shown by symbols 共crosses: first-order, squares:
FIG. 7. Contour lines of growth rate. Gaussian vortex ring. 共a兲 ⑀⫽0.02, 共b兲 second-order兲 and the analytical value is shown by the solid line for the
⑀⫽0.1. first-order growth rate.

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3158 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003
FIG. 10. Contour lines of growth rate for large r 0 . Gaussian vortex ring. 共a兲
⑀ ⫽0.02, 共b兲 ⑀ ⫽0.1.
in (r, ␹ )-plane. Figure 10 shows the contour lines of the
growth rate for larger values of r 0 . For each case there is an
unstable region which is irrelevant to the resonance curves.
Comparing Fig. 10 with Fig. 5, we see that this unstable
region is closely related with the region of negative vorticity.
For ⑀⫽0.02, the vorticity on the y-axis is negative for y
⬎3.42; the unstable region is seen in r 0 ⬎3.5. For ⑀⫽0.1,
the vorticity on the y-axis is negative for 2.08⬍y⬍3.16; the
unstable region is seen in 2.2⬍r 0 ⭐3.0, while the orbit is not
closed for r 0 ⬇Y max⬎3.0. Lifschitz and Hameiri20 showed
that a vortex ring without swirl is unstable on orbits for
which the circulation decreases outward by short-wavelength
stability analysis; this is a generalization of the classical Ray-
leigh stability condition. Thus the unstable region seen in
Fig. 10 is most likely due to the centrifugal instability. This
supports that the unstable regions in Fig. 7, which appear
along the resonance curves, are irrelevant to the centrifugal
instability.
V. CONCLUDING REMARKS
The linear stability of thin vortex rings is studied in the
short wave limit. For both uniform and Gaussian cores the
first-order instability is shown to be significant. We should
note that there are differences between the two cases. For
Kelvin’s vortex ring the wavevector which gives the maxi-
mum growth rate is non-orthogonal and parallel to the
streamline, while the angle ␹ between the wavevector and
the vorticity line is fixed to ␹ (1) ⬇0.42␲ . For the Gaussian
vortex ring, on the other hand, the wavevector is orthogonal
to the streamline, while the angle ␹ which gives the maxi-
mum growth rate is 0. Kelvin’s vortex ring is special in that
the particle motion is isochronous up to O( ⑀ ) in the vortex
core, which leads to the exponential instability for non-
orthogonal wavevector.
In general, inclusion of higher-order terms does not al-
low the wavevector k(t) to be periodic when ␾⫽0. If so, k
evolves algebraically in time and the perturbation goes
through amplification only for such a short time as not to
grow much as discussed at the end of Sec. III A. Kelvin’s
vortex ring is an exception in that k is periodic up to O( ⑀ 2 )
also for ␾⫽␲/2. The most unstable disturbance occurs in this
extreme.
The accuracy of the basic flow of the Gaussian vortex
ring may not be sufficient for large value of ⑀. However, the
numerical value of the first-order growth rate agrees well
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Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto
with the analytical value for ⑀⭐0.15. Thus there is little
doubt about the present results, although the value of ⑀ c , at
which second-order instability overtakes the first-order insta-
bility, cannot be determined correctly by the present study.
A question would arise how and when we can observe
the first-order instability in the experiments. In the experi-
ments by Sullivan et al.,21 the observed unstable waves were
supposed to be bending waves. Since it is the second-order
effect that destabilizes bending waves, the first-order effect
does not seem to have appeared in their experiments. In this
regard we mention three points about the case of Gaussian
vortex ring. First, the observed unstable waves would depend
on the method of introducing initial disturbance. The vortic-
ity is rather small where the first-order growth rate is large;
for example, the magnitude of vorticity at (x,y)⬇(0,1.8),
where ␴ (1) is maximal for ⑀⫽0.1, is about 1.7% of the maxi-
mum. Thus we should introduce disturbances which have
large amplitude in a weak vorticity region in order to observe
the first-order instability clearly. Second, viscosity can have a
significant effect of stabilization for the first-order effect. In
Fig. 8 we see that the first-order growth rate is large in a
narrow interval of r 0 near the cut-off, while the second-order
growth rate does not vary much below the cut-off; this sug-
gests that the results on the second-order growth rate ob-
tained in the short-wave limit are valid for wavelengths com-
parable to the core radius, but the results on the first-order
growth rate are not. Since the viscous effect enters as ␴
⫺ ␯ k 2 , viscosity can greatly affect the first-order instability if
it appears only for short waves. Finally, nonlinearity is ne-
glected in the present analysis. We should take account of
nonlinear effect in order to deal with the large-amplitude
waves observed in Sullivan et al.21
It is of interest to study how the present results by short-
wavelength analysis are related with those by normal-mode
stability analysis. For Kelvin’s ring, the growth rate ␴ (1)
⫽(15⑀ /256) for ␾⫽0 is realizable by parametric resonance
between the axisymmetric and the bending modes.6 Instabil-
ity with a larger growth rate occurs for interaction of higher
modes, which will be reported elsewhere. For the Gaussian
ring, the method explored by Bayly22 would give a clue.
Applying this method with required modification, the quan-
tity C( ␺ ) is shown to be positive for the streamline of the
maximal growth rate; it strongly suggests that there is a lo-
calized normal mode which corresponds to the maximal
growth rate found by the present short-wavelength analysis
共see Appendix D for the details兲.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Y.H. was partially supported by an overseas research
program of MEXT, Japan. We were also supported in part by
a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Soci-
ety for the Promotion of Science.
APPENDIX A: SOLUTIONS TO EQS. „2… AND „3… FOR
KELVIN’S VORTEX RING
Here we describe some details of solving Eqs. 共2兲 and
共3兲 for Kelvin’s vortex ring. Since the basic flow is axisym-
metric and the azimuthal component of velocity 共swirl兲 is
Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3159

zero, the particle path lies on a plane s⫽const. We can take x⫽r cos ␪ , ⑀ y⫽ 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲 cos共 ⑀ s 兲 ⫺1,
s⫽0 without loss of generality. The basic flow in the core is
assumed to be the Rankine vortex at O(1). Then the steady ⑀ z⫽ 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲 sin共 ⑀ s 兲 ,
Euler equation is solved by asymptotic expansion in ⑀ to give
5
U r ⫽ ⑀ 共 1⫺r 2 兲 cos ␪ ⫹ ⑀ 2 Ar⫹
8
r3
8 冉
sin 2 ␪ ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , 冊 er ⫽cos ␪ ex ⫹sin ␪ cos共 ⑀ s 兲 ey ⫹sin ␪ sin共 ⑀ s 兲 ez ,

冉 冊 冉 冊
e␪ ⫽⫺sin ␪ ex ⫹cos ␪ cos共 ⑀ s 兲 ey ⫹cos ␪ sin共 ⑀ s 兲 ez ,
5 7 r3
U ␪ ⫽r⫹ ⑀ ⫺ ⫹ r 2 sin ␪ ⫹ ⑀ 2 Ar⫹ cos 2 ␪
8 8 16
es ⫽⫺sin共 ⑀ s 兲 ey ⫹cos共 ⑀ s 兲 ez ,
⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 ,3

with ei being the unit vector in the ith direction, we obtain

U s ⫽0,
Eq. 共11兲 in this coordinate system after straightforward cal-
in (r, ␪ ,s) coordinate system shown in Fig. 1.1 We would culation. Note that this expression is valid for 兩 z 兩 ⭐O(1)
like to work in the local Cartesian coordinate system though we require an expression valid just around the plane
(x,y,z). Using the relations z⫽0, which is identical with s⫽0. The matrix L is

冉 冊冉 ⫺z

冊冉 x 2⫹ y 2 ⫺ 38 z 2 ⫺ 43 yz

冊
3 3 3
0 ⫺1 0 ⫺ 45 x ⫺ 74 y 8 xy A⫹ 16 16

L⫽ 1 0 0 ⫹⑀ 1
4 y 1
4 x 0 ⫹⑀2 A⫹ 3
16 x 2⫹ 3
16 y 2 ⫺ 83 z 2 3
8 xy ⫺ 34 xz
0 0 0 z 0 x ⫺ 43 yz ⫺ 43 xz ⫺ 43 xy
⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 . 共A1兲
First, we should know the particle motion X(t) up to O( ⑀ ); since the matrix L does not depend on x at the leading order,

冉 冊
O( ⑀ 2 ) precision is not required for X(t). Equation 共2兲 is solved as

r 20

冉 冊
sin 2⍀t
r 0 cos ⍀t 8
X共 t 兲 ⫽ r 0 sin ⍀t ⫹ ⑀ 5 3r 20 r 20 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 , 共A2兲
0 ⫺ ⫺ cos 2⍀t
8 4 8
0

for an appropriate initial condition, where ⍀⫽1 up to the first order.

冊冉 冊
Next, substituting the particle motion above to Eq. 共3兲, we obtain the following equations for local wavevector:

冉
5r 0 r0 ⫺
r 20
sin 2⍀t k x ⫹ ⫺A⫺ 冉 5 r 20
⫹ cos 2⍀t k y 冊
冉 冊
cos ⍀t k x ⫺ sin ⍀t k y 32 32 32

冉 冊
⫺k y 4 4
dk 35 3r 20 7r 20 7r 20
⫽ kx ⫹⑀ 7r 0 r0 ⫹⑀2 ⫺A⫹ ⫺ ⫺ cos 2⍀t k x ⫺ sin 2⍀t k y
dt
0 sin ⍀t k x ⫺ cos ⍀t k y 32 2 32 32
4 4
r 20
⫺r 0 cos ⍀t k z sin 2⍀t k z
4
⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 . 共A3兲

For the initial condition k(0)⫽(sin ␹ cos ␾,sin ␹ sin ␾,cos ␹)T⫹O(⑀), the solution reads

冉
sin ␹ cos共 ⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲
k共 t 兲 ⫽ sin ␹ sin共 ⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲 ⫹ ⑀
cos ␹
冊 冉 r 0 sin ␹ 关 sin ␾ ⫹ 43 sin共 2⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲兴
r 0 sin ␹ 关 21 cos ␾ ⫺ 43 cos共 2⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲兴
⫺r 0 cos ␹ sin ⍀t
冊
冉 r 20 sin ␹ 关 ⫺ cos共 3⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲 ⫺ sin ␾ t cos共 ⍀t 兲兴

冊
9 21
32 16

⫹⑀2 r 20 sin ␹ 关 ⫺ 9
32 sin共 3⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲 ⫺ 21
16 sin ␾ t sin共 ⍀t 兲兴 ⫹B sin ␹ sin共 ⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , 共A4兲
r 20 cos ␹ 关 41 ⫺ 83 cos共 2⍀t⫹ ␾ 兲兴

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3160 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto

32 ⫺ (7r 0 /16) and the angular velocity is

2
where B⫽⫺A⫹ 15 A m ⫽A m 共 ␹ 兲

冏 冋 冏
corrected as
⳵Am ⳵Am

冉 冊
⫽A m 共 ␹ (0) 兲 ⫹ ⑀ ␹ (1) ⫹ ⑀ 2 ␹ (2)
5 21 2 ⳵␹ ␹ (0)
⳵␹ ␹ (0)
⍀⫽1⫹ ⑀ 2 ⫺ r , 共A5兲

冏 册
8 32 0
1 ⳵ 2A m
⫹ 共 ␹ (1) 兲 2 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲
because of secular terms. The O( ⑀ 2 ) terms of k have aperi- 2 ⳵␹ 2 ␹ (0)
odic terms t cos ⍀t and t sin ⍀t. For ␾⫽0 these terms vanish.
For ␾⫽␲/2 these terms can be included in the O(1) terms by ⫽A m
(0)
⫹⑀Am
(1)
⫹ ⑀ 2A m
(2)
⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 .
correcting the angular velocity as Then Eq. 共B2兲 becomes

⍀ ⬘ ⫽⍀⫹ ⑀ 2
21r 20
16
, 共A6兲 冋冉 n
␮ (0) ⫹i ⍀⫹ ⑀␮ (1) ⫹ ⑀ 2 ␮ (2)
2 冊 2

so that the wavevector k is periodic up to O( ⑀ 2 ). For

␾⫽0,␲/2, k is not periodic up to O( ⑀ 2 ).
0 ⫹ ⑀ A 0 ⫹ ⑀ 共 B 0 ⫹A 0 兲 共 b n/2 ⫹ ⑀ b n/2 ⫹ ⑀ b n/2 兲
⫹A (0) (1) 2 (0) (2) (0) (1) 2 (2)
册
Finally, by substituting the solutions above into Eq. 共9兲,
⫹ ⑀ 共 A (0)
1 ⫹ ⑀ A 1 兲共 b n/2 ⫺1 ⫹ ⑀ b n/2 ⫺1 兲
(1) (0) (1)
we obtain Eq. 共13兲 for general ␾ and Eq. 共16兲 for ␾⫽0.
⫹ ⑀ 共 A ⫺1
(0)
⫹ ⑀ A ⫺1
(1) (0)
兲共 b n/2 ⫹1 ⫹ ⑀ b n/2 ⫹1 兲
(1)

⫹ ⑀ 2 A (0)
2 b n12 ⫺2 ⫹ ⑀ A ⫺2 b n/2 ⫹2 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 ⫽0.
(0) 2 (0) (0) 3
共B3兲
APPENDIX B: GROWTH RATES OF UNSTABLE
SOLUTIONS TO HILL–SCHRÖDINGER EQUATION At O(1), we obtain

冋冉 冊 册
BY MATHIEU’S METHOD
2
n
Here we apply Mathieu’s method to the Hill– ␮ (0)
⫹i ⍀ ⫹A (0)
0
(0)
b n/2 ⫽0. 共B4兲
2
Schrödinger equation 共8兲 to obtain the growth rate. The po-
tential V(t) is expressed as Without loss of generality, we obtain

2 ␮ (0) ⫽0, 0 ⫽N ⍀ /4,

A (0) 2 2 (0)
b ⫾N/2 ⫽0,
V共 t 兲⫽ 兺
m⫽⫺2
a m e im⍀t ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , (0)
b n/2 ⫽0 for n⫽N,

a 0 ⫽A 0 ⫹ ⑀ 2 B 0 , a ⫾1 ⫽ ⑀ A ⫾1 , a ⫾2 ⫽ ⑀ 2 A ⫾2 , in order to have a non-trivial solution.

1. N Ä1
* ⫽A m ,
A ⫺m
The most important resonance by the first-order term of
in the cases under consideration. Let us consider a solution V(t) occurs when N⫽1. In this case, the O( ⑀ ) relation of
of the type Eq. 共B3兲 becomes

冉 冊
⬁ 1⫺n 2 2 (1)
n ⍀ b n/2 ⫹ 共 in⍀ ␮ (1) ⫹A (1)
0 兲 b n/2 ⫹A 1 b n/2 ⫺1
(0) (0) (0)
q 共 t 兲 ⫽e ␮t
兺
n⫽⫺⬁
b n/2 exp i ⍀t .
2
共B1兲 4
⫹A ⫺1 b n/2 ⫹1 ⫽0.
(0) (0)
共B5兲
Substituting the above expressions to Eq. 共8兲 we obtain the
following set of linear equations for b n and ␮: From the above equations for n⫽⫾1 we obtain

冉 冊 2 2 ⍀ 2 共 ␮ (1) 兲 2 ⫽ 兩 A (0)
1 兩 ⫺共 A0 兲 ,
2 (1) 2
0 ⫽0.
Im A (1)
n
␮ ⫹i ⍀
2
b n/2⫹ 兺
m⫽⫺2
a m b n/2 ⫺m ⫽0. 共B2兲 Thus the maximum of ␮ (1) is attained at A (1)0 ⫽0, which
implies ␹ (1) ⫽0 and hence A (1)
n ⫽0; the maximum is
We expand ␹, ␮ and b n/2 as
兩 A (0)
1 兩
␮ (1) ⫽ ,
␹ ⫽ ␹ (0) ⫹ ⑀ ␹ (1) ⫹ ⑀ 2 ␹ (2) ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 , ⍀
and we have
␮ ⫽ ␮ (0) ⫹ ⑀␮ (1) ⫹ ⑀ 2 ␮ (2) ⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 ,
A (0)
1
b n/2⫽b n/2
(0)
⫹ ⑀ b n/2
(1)
⫹ ⑀ 2 b n/2
(2)
⫹O 共 ⑀ 3 兲 .
(0)
b 1/2 ⫽i (0)
b⫺ 1/2 . 共B6兲
兩 A (0)
1 兩

The coefficients A m and B 0 are also expanded as Equation 共B5兲 further gives

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3161

(0) (0)
A ⫾1 b ⫾1/2 1
b ⫾3/2⫽ , b n/2⫽0 for 兩 n 兩 ⫽1,3. ␴ (2) ⫽ ␮ ⫽ ⑀ 2 1 兲 兩 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 .
兩 A (0) ⫺ 共 A (0) 2 3
2⍀ 2 2⍀ 2
The O( ⑀ 2 ) relation of Eq. 共B3兲 is now
APPENDIX C: SOLUTIONS TO EQS. „2… AND „3… FOR
1⫺n 2 2 (2) A GENERAL LEADING-ORDER BASIC FLOW UP
⍀ b n/2 ⫹in⍀ ␮ (1) b n/2
(1)
⫹ 关 in⍀ ␮ (2) ⫹ 共 ␮ (1) 兲 2 ⫹B (0)
0
4 TO THE FIRST ORDER

⫹A (2)
0 兴 b n/2 ⫹A 1 b n/2 ⫺1 ⫹A ⫺1 b n/2 ⫹1 ⫹A 2 b n/2 ⫺2
(0) (0) (1) (0) (1) (0) (0)
Here we describe solutions to Eqs. 共2兲 and 共3兲 for a
general leading-order basic flow, which are required for ob-
⫹A ⫺2 b n/2 ⫹2 ⫽0.
(0) (0)
共B7兲 taining the first-order growth rate 共24兲. We use the coordinate
From the above equations for n⫽⫾1 and Eq. 共B6兲 we have system (r, ␪ ,s) since singularity does not arise up to the first
order.
兩 A (0)
1 兩
2
The matrix L is represented as
0 ⫹A 0 ⫺i⍀ ␮
⫹B (0) (2) (2)
⍀2
兩 A (0)
1 兩
2

0 ⫹A 0 ⫹i⍀ ␮
⫹B (0) (2) (2) L⫽ 冉 L⬜
0 T
0
L储
冊 , 共C1兲

冉 冊
⍀2
(0)
b 1/2 ⫺A ⫺1 b 1/2 ⫹i兩 A ⫺1
(0) (1)
兩 b ⫺ 1/2
(0) (1) U ␪(0)
⫽ (0) • (0) (1) ⫽1, 共B8兲 0 ⫺
1/2 ⫺i兩 A 1 兩 b 1/2 ⫺A 1 b ⫺ 1/2
(0) (1) r
b⫺
L⬜ ⫽
which implies ␮ (2) ⫽0. To summarize, dU (0)
␪
0

冉 冊
dr
兩 A (0)
1 兩
␴ (1)
⫽␮⫽⑀ ⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 .
3
共B9兲
⍀ dŨ r(1) 1
cos ␪ ␪ 兲 sin ␪
⫺ 共 Ũ r(1) ⫹Ũ (1)
dr r
2. N Ä2 ⫹⑀
dŨ (1)
␪ 1 (1)
The most important resonance by the second-order term sin ␪ ␪ 兲 cos ␪
共 Ũ r ⫹Ũ (1)
dr r
of V(t) occurs when N⫽2. In this case, the O( ⑀ ) relation of
Eq. 共B3兲 becomes ⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 , 共C2兲
2
4⫺n 2 (1)
⍀ b n/2 ⫹ 共 in⍀ ␮ (1) ⫹A (1)
0 兲 b n/2 ⫹A 1 b n/2 ⫺1
(0) (0) (0) L储 ⫽ ⑀ U (0)
␪ cos ␪ ⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 ,
2
共C3兲
4
where
⫹A ⫺1 b n/2 ⫹1 ⫽0.
(0) (0)
共B10兲
From the above equations for n⫽⫾2 we obtain 1 (1) d˜␺ 11
(1)
Ũ r(1) 共 r 兲 ⫽⫺ ˜␺ 11 共 r 兲, ␪ 共 r 兲⫽
Ũ (1) ⫹rU (0)
␪ 共 r 兲.
r dr
␮ (1) ⫽A (1)
0 ⫽0.
First, we solve the particle motion. Equation 共2兲 is writ-
Hence ␹ (1) ⫽0 and A m
(1)
⫽0. Equation 共B10兲 further gives ten as
(0) (0)
A ⫾1 b ⫾1 dR d⌰
0 ⫽⫺A 1 b ⫺1 ⫺A ⫺1 b 1 ,
b (1) (0) (0) (0) (0) (1)
b ⫾2 ⫽ , ⫽U r , R ⫽U ␪ .
3 dt dt
b n/2⫽0 for 兩 n 兩 ⫽0,2,4. The solution is
The O( ⑀ ) relation of Eq. 共B3兲 is now
2
Ũ r(1)
R 共 t 兲 ⫽r 0 ⫹ ⑀ sin共 ⍀ (0) t 兲 ⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 ,
4⫺n 2 2 (2) ⍀ (0)
⍀ b n/2 ⫹ 关 in⍀ ␮ (2) ⫹B (0)
0 ⫹A 0 兴 b n/2 ⫹A 1 b n/2 ⫺1
(2) (0) (0) (1)
4
⌰ 共 t 兲 ⫽⍀ (0) t⫹O 共 ⑀ 兲 .
⫹A ⫺1 b n/2 ⫹1 ⫹A (0)
(0) (1)
2 b n/2 ⫺2 ⫹A ⫺2 b n/2 ⫹2 ⫽0.
(0) (0) (0)
共B11兲
Since the matrix L does not depend on ␪ at the leading order,
From the above equations for n⫽⫾2 we obtain the O( ⑀ ) term of ⌰ is not required.

冉 冊 2 Next, we solve the wavevector equation 共3兲. It is written

2 (0)
4⍀ 2 共 ␮ (2) 兲 2 ⫹ B (0)
0 ⫹A 0 ⫺ 兩 A 1 兩
(2) as
3
⫽ 兩 A (0)
2 ⫺共 A1 兲 兩 .
(0) 2 2

For Kelvin’s ring, it is possible to choose ␹ (2) so that A (2)

冋 冉
d
dt
⫹
0
⍀
⫺⍀
0
冊册 k⬜ ⫽⫺L ⬜T k⬜ ,
dk 储
dt
⫽⫺L储 k 储 ,
0
0 ⫹2 兩 A 1 兩 /3 since ( ⳵ A 0 / ⳵␹ ) 兩 ␹ (0) ⫽0. Thus the
⫽⫺B (0) in the present coordinate system. Substituting R(t) and ⌰(t)
(0) 2

maximal growth rate is to the above equations, the wavevector is found to be

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3162 Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Y. Hattori and Y. Fukumoto

冉 冋 冉 冊 册
冊
sin ␹ dŨ r(1) dU (0)
␪ Ũ r(1)

冉 冊
⫺ ⫹ ⍀ (0)
⫺ sin共 ⍀ (0) t 兲
sin ␹ ⍀ (0) dr dr ⍀ (0) r 0
k共 t 兲 ⫽ 0 ⫹⑀ sin ␹ Ũ r(1) ⫹O 共 ⑀ 2 兲 ,
cos ␹ ⫺ cos共 ⍀ (0) t 兲
⍀ (0) r 0
⫺r 0 cos ␹ sin共 ⍀ (0) t 兲

for the initial condition k(0)⫽(sin ␹,0,cos ␹)T⫹O(⑀). The with corrections of higher order in k ⫺1 . The solution above
functions in O( ⑀ ) terms are evaluated at r⫽r 0 . is localized within a region of width O(k ⫺1/2) around the
Finally, by substituting the solutions above into Eq. 共9兲 streamline ␺ ⫽ ␺ 0 , for which the growth rate reaches the
we obtain Eq. 共22兲. maximum. Introducing the scaled streamline coordinate ␩
⫽k 1/2( ␺ ⫺ ␺ 0 ), Eq. 共D4兲 reduces to
⳵U1 i
共 f1 •“⬜ 兲 ⫽⫺ U ,
APPENDIX D: ON THE EXISTENCE OF NORMAL ⳵␩ 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 3
MODES
at the leading order. This together with Eq. 共D3兲 gives

冋 册
Here we discuss the existence of normal modes which
⳵U1
correspond to the first-order instability for the Gaussian vor- P⫽⫺ 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲关 ⌺ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ⫹U"“⬜ 兴 共 f1 •“⬜ 兲 .
tex ring. We proceed in the same way as in Bayly,22 who ⳵␩
discussed the existence of localized unstable modes for Substituting P into Eq. 共D1兲, we obtain

冋 册
centrifugal-type instability. The key issue is to calculate
1
C( ␺ ) defined below by Eq. 共D5兲; since C( ␺ ) should be ⫺ ⌺ ⬙ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ␩ 2 ⫺S 1 U 1
modified for the present case, we briefly describe its deriva- 2
tion. ⫽ 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲共 f†1 •“⬜ ␺ 兲关 ⌺ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ⫹U"“⬜ 兴
For the Gaussian ring, the first-order instability has the
maximum growth rate at ␹⫽0, which implies the wavevector ⳵ 2U 1
⫻ 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲共 f1 •“⬜ ␺ 兲 ,
is in the direction of s-axis. This suggests that the corre- ⳵␩2
sponding unstable mode can be constructed in the similar
way with Bayly.22 Let us consider a normal-mode perturba- with U"“⬜ U 1 ⫽0. Averaging over the streamline ␺ ⫽ ␺ 0 , we
tion obtain

u⫽ 共 ũ共 r, ␪ 兲 ,p̃ 共 r, ␪ 兲兲 exp共 iks⫹St 兲 ⫹c.c.,

where kⰇ1. We expand ũ as
冋 1
册 ⳵2
⫺ ⌺ ⬙ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ␩ 2 ⫺S 1 Ū 1 共 ␩ 兲 ⫽C 共 ␺ 0 兲 2 Ū 1 共 ␩ 兲 ,
2 ⳵␩
where

冕
3
T( ␺ )
兺 ũ i fi ,
1
ũ⫽ C共 ␺ 兲⫽ d␶ 兵 共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲共 f†1 •“⬜ ␺ 兲
i⫽1 T共 ␺ 兲 0
22
where fi is the Floquet characteristic vector field. The equa- ⫻ 关 ⌺ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ⫹U"“⬜ 兴共 1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 兲共 f1 •“⬜ ␺ 兲 其 X( ␶ ) ,
tion for the perturbation reduces to
共D5兲
关 S⫺⌺ 共 ␺ 兲 ⫹U"“⬜ 兴 ũ 1 ⫽⫺f†1 •“⬜ p̃, 共D1兲 which coincides with the expression in Bayly if ⑀⫽0. 22

关 S⫹⌺ 共 ␺ 兲 ⫹U"“⬜ 兴 ũ 2 ⫽⫺f†2 •“⬜ p̃, 共D2兲 We calculate C( ␺ ) up to O( ⑀ ). The components of Flo-
quet characteristic vector fields f1 and f2 turn out to be

冉 冊 冉 冊
ik
共 S⫹U"“⬜ 兲 ũ 3 ⫽⫺ ˜p , 共D3兲 1 (0) H⫹ 3
1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ f 1r ⫽sin ⍀ ␶ ⫺⑀ cos ⍀ (0) ␶ ,
2 2 关 ⍀ (0) 兴 2 2

共 “⬜ ⫹ ⑀ ey 兲 • 共 ũ 1 f1 ⫹ũ 2 f2 兲 ⫹
ik
ũ ⫽0,
1⫹ ⑀ r sin ␪ 3
共D4兲 1 1
冉
f 1 ␪ ⫽ cos ⍀ (0) ␶
4 2 冊
冉 冊 冉 冊
where ⌺共␺兲 is the positive Floquet exponent corresponding 3H ⫹ G 1⫹ 3
to f1 , “⬜ ⫽er ⳵ r ⫹r ⫺1 e␪ ⳵ ␪ and f†i is the adjoint Floquet char- ⫹⑀ ⫺ sin ⍀ (0) ␶
acteristic vector field. Note that owing to the curvature effect 8 关 ⍀ (0) 兴 2 2⍀ (0) 2
there are some differences from the equations derived by
Bayly.22 We assume the same scaling in k with Bayly22 ⫹⑀ 冉 H⫺
(0) 2 ⫺
4关⍀ 兴
G 1⫺
2⍀ (0) sin
1 (0)
2 冊 冉
⍀ ␶ , 冊
冉 冊 冉 冊
ũ 1 ⫽U 1 , ũ 2 ⫽k ⫺1 U 2 , ũ 3 ⫽k ⫺1/2U 3 ,
1 (0) H⫹ 3 (0)
⫺3/2 ⫺1 f 2r ⫽cos ⍀ ␶ ⫹⑀ (0) 2 sin ⍀ ␶ ,
p̃⫽k P, S⫽⌺ 共 ␺ 0 兲 ⫺k S1 , 2 2关⍀ 兴 2

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Phys. Fluids, Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2003 Short-wavelength stability analysis 3163

冉 冊
1
1 1 S. E. Widnall and C.-Y. Tsai, ‘‘The instability of the thin vortex ring of
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4 2 2
S. E. Widnall, D. B. Bliss, and C.-Y. Tsai, ‘‘The instability of short waves

冉 冊 冉 冊
on a vortex ring,’’ J. Fluid Mech. 66, 35 共1974兲.
3H ⫹ G 1⫹ 3 3
⫺⑀ ⫺ cos ⍀ (0) ␶ C.-Y. Tsai and S. E. Widnall, ‘‘The stability of short waves on a straight
8 关 ⍀ (0) 兴 2 2⍀ (0) 2 vortex filament in a weak externally imposed strain field,’’ J. Fluid Mech.

冉 冊 冉 冊
73, 721 共1976兲.
H⫺ G 1⫺ 1 (0) 4
D. W. Moore and P. G. Saffman, ‘‘The instability of a straight vortex
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4关⍀ 兴 2⍀ 2 5
F. Waleffe, ‘‘On the three-dimensional instability of strained vortices,’’
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6
Y. Fukumoto and Y. Hattori, ‘‘Linear stability of a vortex ring revisited,’’
as functions of ␶ on the streamline ␺ ⫽ ␺ 0 . Here Proceedings of the IUTAM Symposium on Tubes, Sheets and Singularities

冉 冊
in Fluid Dynamics, edited by H. K. Moffatt and K. Bajer 共Kluwer, New
⍀f 2Ũ r(1) dU (0)
␪ Ũ r(1) 2Ũ (1)
␪
York, 2003兲, pp. 37– 48.
G 1⫾ ⫽ ⫺ ⫹ 7
A. Lifschitz and E. Hameiri, ‘‘Local stability conditions in fluid dynam-
4⍀ (0)
r 0⍀ (0)
dr r0 r0 ics,’’ Phys. Fluids A 3, 2644 共1991兲.
8
S. Friedlander and M. M. Vishik, ‘‘Instability criteria for the flow of an
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⫿ , 9
S. Le Dizès and C. Eloy, ‘‘Short-wavelength instability of a vortex in a
2 dr
multipolar strain field,’’ Phys. Fluids 11, 500 共1999兲.

冉
10
D. Sipp, E. Lauga, and L. Jacquin, ‘‘Vortices in rotating systems: Centrifu-
Ũ r(1) d2 U (0)
␪ Ũ r(1) dU (0)
␪ Ũ r(1) Ũ ␪(1)
G 2⫾ ⫽⫾ ⫹ ⫺ ⫹ gal, elliptic and hyperbolic type instabilities,’’ Phys. Fluids 11, 3716
2⍀ (0) dr 2 2r 0 ⍀ (0) dr 2r 0 2r 0 共1999兲.

冊
11
A. Lifschitz, ‘‘Instabilities of ideal fluids and related topics,’’ Z. Angew.
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␪
⫹ ⫺ 共 Ũ (1) ⫹Ũ ␪(1) 兲 , 12
A. Lifschitz, W. H. Suters, and J. T. Beale, ‘‘The onset of instability in
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T. Rozi and Y. Fukumoto, ‘‘The most unstable perturbation of wave-packet
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14
B. J. Bayly, D. D. Holm, and A. Lifschitz, ‘‘Three-dimensional stability of
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Ũ (1) (1)
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these expressions, we obtain 16
E. L. Ince, Ordinary Differential Equations 共Dover, New York, 1956兲,

冋
Chap. 15.
(1)
37 41c 11 5g 共 r 0 兲 17
H. Greenspan, The Theory of Rotating Fluids 共Cambridge University
C 共 ␺ 0 兲 ⫽ ⑀ 关 U ␪(0) 兴 3 ⫺ ⫺ Press, Cambridge, 1968兲.
512 256r 20 128r 20 共 U ␪(0) 兲 2 18
Y. Fukumoto, ‘‘Higher-order asymptotic theory for the velocity field in-

冕 册
duced by an inviscid vortex ring,’’ Fluid Dyn. Res. 30, 65 共2002兲.
41 r0 g共 r 兲 19
Y. Fukumoto and H. K. Moffatt, ‘‘Motion and expansion of a viscous
⫹ dr , 共D6兲
256r 20 0 r 兵 U ␪(0) 共 r 兲 其 2 vortex ring. Part 1. A higher-order asymptotic formula for the velocity,’’ J.
Fluid Mech. 417, 1 共2000兲.
20
after long but straightforward calculation. The numerical A. Lifschitz and E. Hameiri, ‘‘Localized instabilities of vortex rings with
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␪ 兴 其
3
21
⫺2 J. P. Sullivan, S. E. Widnall, and S. Ezekiel, ‘‘A study of vortex rings using
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suggests that a normal mode corresponding to the maximal 22
B. J. Bayly, ‘‘Three-dimensional centrifugal-type instabilities in inviscid
growth rate exists for the Gaussian vortex ring. two-dimensional flows,’’ Phys. Fluids 31, 56 共1988兲.

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