Lab Home | Phone | Search
	Center for Nonlinear Studies
	Home  ▶ People   Current   Executive Committee   Postdocs   Visitors   Students   Research   Publications  ▶ Conferences   Workshops   Sponsorship  ▶ Talks   Seminars   Postdoc Seminars Archive   Quantum Lunch   Quantum Lunch Archive   P/T Colloquia   Archive   Ulam Scholar     Postdoc Nominations  ▶ Student Requests   Student Program  ▶ Visitor Requests   Description   Past Visitors  ▶ Services   General     History of CNLS     Maps, Directions   CNLS Office   T-Division   LANL				Monday, August 27, 20074:30 PM - 5:00 PMCNLS Conference Room (TA-3, Bldg 1690) Seminar Seminar: Clustering of matter in waves and currents Marija VuceljaPhysics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science Abstract: The growth rate of small-scale density inhomogeneities (the entropy production rate) is given by the sum of the Lyapunov exponents in a random flow. We derive an analytic formula for the rate in a flow of weakly interacting waves and show that in most cases it is zero up to the fourth order in the wave amplitude. We then derive an analytic formula for the rate in a flow of potential waves and solenoidal currents. Estimates of the rate and the fractal dimension of the density distribution show that the interplay between waves and currents is a realistic mechanism for providing patchiness of pollutant distribution on the ocean surface.