A nonlinear instability burst in plane parallel flow

An infinitesimal centre disturbance is imposed on a fully Ldveloped plane Poiseuille flow at a Reynolds number R slightly greater than the critical value R c for instability. After a long time, t , the disturbance consists of a modulated wave whose amplitude A is a slowly varying function of position and time. In an earlier paper (Stewartson the theory is here extended to three dimensions. Although the coefficients of the equation are coinples, a start is made on elucidating the properties of its solutions by assuming that these coefficients are real. It is then found numerically and confirmed analytically that, for a finite value of ( R-R c ) t , the amplitude A develops an infinite peak at the wave centre. The possible relevance of this work to the phenomenon of transition is discussed.