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Related Concept Videos

Standing Waves01:17

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Sometimes waves do not seem to move; rather, they just vibrate in place. Unmoving waves can be seen on the surface of a glass of milk kept in a refrigerator, which is one example of standing waves. Vibrations from the refrigerator motor create waves on the milk that oscillate up and down but do not seem to move across the surface. These waves are formed or created by the superposition of two or more identical moving waves in opposite directions. The waves move through each other, with their...
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When a wave propagates from one medium to another, part of it may get reflected in the first medium, and part of it may get transmitted to the second medium. In such a case, the interface of the two mediums can be considered as a boundary that is neither fixed nor free.
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While deriving the Doppler formula for the observed frequency of a sound wave, it is assumed that the speed of sound in the medium is greater than the source's speed through it. When this condition is breached, a shock wave occurs.
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The simplest mechanical waves are associated with simple harmonic motion and repeat themselves for several cycles. These simple harmonic waves can be modeled using a combination of sine and cosine functions. Consider a simplified surface water wave that moves across the water's surface. Unlike complex ocean waves, in surface water waves, water moves vertically, oscillating up and down, whereas the disturbance of the wave moves horizontally through the medium. If a seagull is floating on the...
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A wave is a disturbance that propagates from its source, repeating itself periodically, and is typically associated with simple harmonic motion. Mechanical waves are governed by Newton's laws and require a medium to travel. A medium is a substance in which a mechanical wave propagates, and the medium produces an elastic restoring force when it is deformed.
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Damped Oscillations01:07

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In the real world, oscillations seldom follow true simple harmonic motion. A system that continues its motion indefinitely without losing its amplitude is termed undamped. However, friction of some sort usually dampens the motion, so it fades away or needs more force to continue. For example, a guitar string stops oscillating a few seconds after being plucked. Similarly, one must continually push a swing to keep a child swinging on a playground.
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Measurements of Waves in a Wind-wave Tank Under Steady and Time-varying Wind Forcing
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Real world ocean rogue waves explained without the modulational instability.

Francesco Fedele1,2, Joseph Brennan3, Sonia Ponce de León3

  • 1School of Civil &Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.

Scientific Reports
|June 22, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Rogue waves in the open ocean are not primarily caused by modulational instability. Instead, constructive interference of waves, enhanced by nonlinearities, generates these extreme events, suggesting they are rare in random seas.

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Area of Science:

  • Oceanography
  • Fluid Dynamics
  • Wave Physics

Background:

  • Modulational instability has been the prevailing theory for rogue wave generation since the 1990s.
  • The role of modulational instability in real ocean conditions remains debated, despite laboratory and mathematical studies.
  • Previous research lacks consensus on the primary mechanisms driving rogue waves in oceanic environments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the actual oceanic relevance of modulational instability as a rogue wave generation mechanism.
  • To analyze field data to determine the dominant factors contributing to rogue wave formation.
  • To challenge the established paradigm and propose an alternative explanation for rogue waves.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of multiple sets of field data from diverse European oceanic locations.
  • Application of various analytical tools to examine wave characteristics and generation processes.
  • Comparison of observed data with theoretical models, including modulational instability and nonlinear wave interactions.

Main Results:

  • Field data analysis indicates that constructive interference of elementary waves is the primary rogue wave generator.
  • Second-order bound nonlinearities significantly enhance the constructive interference mechanism.
  • Modulational instability was found not to be the main cause of rogue waves in the studied oceanic conditions.

Conclusions:

  • The dominant mechanism for rogue wave generation in the ocean is constructive interference, not modulational instability.
  • Rogue waves are likely rare events resulting from weakly nonlinear random sea states.
  • This finding necessitates a re-evaluation of current models and theories concerning extreme wave phenomena.