Stability of attractors formed by inertial particles in open chaotic flows

New developments in classical chaotic scattering

Classical chaotic scattering is a topic of fundamental interest in nonlinear physics due to the numerous existing applications in fields such as celestial mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics and fluid mechanics, among others. Many new advances in chaotic scattering have been achieved in the last few decades. This work provides a current overview of the field, where our attention has been mainly focused on the most important contributions related to the theoretical framework of chaotic scattering, the fractal dimension, the basins boundaries and new applications, among others. Numerical techniques and algorithms, as well as analytical tools used for its analysis, are also included. We also show some of the experimental setups that have been implemented to study diverse manifestations of chaotic scattering. Furthermore, new theoretical aspects such as the study of this phenomenon in time-dependent systems, different transitions and bifurcations to chaotic scattering and a classification of boundaries in different types according to symbolic dynamics are also shown. Finally, some recent progress on chaotic scattering in higher dimensions is also described.

Generalization of the JTZ model to open plane wakes

The JTZ model [C. Jung, T. Tel, and E. Ziemniak, Chaos 3, 555 (1993)], as a theoretical model of a plane wake behind a circular cylinder in a narrow channel at a moderate Reynolds number, has previously been employed to analyze phenomena of chaotic scattering. It is extended here to describe an open plane wake without the confined narrow channel by incorporating a double row of shedding vortices into the intermediate and far wake. The extended JTZ model is found in qualitative agreement with both direct numerical simulations and experimental results in describing streamlines and vorticity contours. To further validate its applications to particle transport processes, the interaction between small spherical particles and vortices in an extended JTZ model flow is studied. It is shown that the particle size has significant influences on the features of particle trajectories, which have two characteristic patterns: one is rotating around the vortex centers and the other accumulating in the exterior of vortices. Numerical results based on the extended JTZ model are found in qualitative agreement with experimental ones in the normal range of particle sizes.

Coagulation and fragmentation dynamics of inertial particles

Inertial particles suspended in many natural and industrial flows undergo coagulation upon collisions and fragmentation if their size becomes too large or if they experience large shear. Here we study this coagulation-fragmentation process in time-periodic incompressible flows. We find that this process approaches an asymptotic dynamical steady state where the average number of particles of each size is roughly constant. We compare the steady-state size distributions corresponding to two fragmentation mechanisms and for different flows and find that the steady state is mostly independent of the coagulation process. While collision rates determine the transient behavior, fragmentation determines the steady state. For example, for fragmentation due to shear, flows that have very different local particle concentrations can result in similar particle size distributions if the temporal or spatial variation in shear forces is similar.

Moving finite-size particles in a flow: a physical example of pitchfork bifurcations of tori

The motion of small, spherical particles of finite size in fluid flows at low Reynolds numbers is described by the strongly nonlinear Maxey-Riley equations. Due to the Stokes drag, the particle motion is dissipative, giving rise to the possibility of attractors in phase space. We investigate the case of an infinite cellular flow field with time-periodic forcing. The dynamics of this system are studied in a part of the parameter space. We focus particularly on the size of the particles, whose variations are most important in active physical processes, for example, for aggregation and fragmentation of particles. Depending on their size the particles will settle on different attractors in phase space in the long-term limit, corresponding to periodic, quasiperiodic, or chaotic motion. One of the invariant sets that can be observed in a large part of this parameter region is a quasiperiodic motion in the form of a torus. We identify some of the bifurcations that these tori undergo, as particle size and mass ratio relative to the fluid are varied. In this way we provide a physical example for sub- and supercritical pitchfork bifurcations of tori.

Coexistence of inertial competitors in chaotic flows

We investigate the dynamics of inertial particles immersed in open chaotic flows. We consider the generic problem of competition between different species, e.g., phytoplankton populations in oceans. The strong influence from inertial effects is shown to result in the persistence of different species even in cases when the passively advected species cannot coexist. Multispecies coexistence in the ocean can be explained by the fact that the unstable manifold is different for each advected competitor of different size.