PHY457/ME437 Incompressible Flow

S. G. Rajeev




First Class on Thu, January 16

Class will meet Tue/Thu at 9:40-10:55am in Meliora 224 during Spring 2014.

I will be using Blackboard to post Notes and Problems.

Incompressible Flow

This course will cover the theory of subsonic fluid flow. We will take a physicist's approach to the subject. Derive the basic equations (Euler, Navier-Stokes) from first principles. Study some simple solutions. Phenomena in geophysics such as tsunamis. The symmetries and conservation laws. Regularity of solutions given smooth initial data. Instabilities and the transition to turbulent flow.

Requirements

Students are expected to know linear algebra (eg., as used in quantum mechanics ) and the calculus of several variables (partial derivatives, multidimensional integration). Knowledge of Electrodynamics, Classical Mechanics at the level of our junior level courses will also be assumed. Familiarity with Mathematica or similar symbolic/numerical programming language will be useful.

Grading

There will be no examinations in the course; instead, there will be some homework assignments. They will posted on blackboard, roughly every other week. More advanced students will be offered a chance to work on a term paper (in lieu of homework problems), based on a topic of their own choosing within the field of fluid mechanics.

Office Hours

Tuesdays 11:00-12:00 pm

Syllabus

Syllabus

Books

There is no required textbook. But the following classic works are recommended:

  1. An Introduction to Fluid Dynamics by G. K. Batchelor
  2. Fluid Mechanics by Landau and Lifshitz. Vol6 of the "Course of Theoretical Physics". Perhaps the best text on the subject.