Damped perturbations in inviscid shear flows: van Kampen modes and Landau damping

We compare initial value and eigenvalue problems for two-dimensional perturbations of the inviscid shear flow in a channel. Singular solutions, known in plasma physics as van Kampen (vK) modes, are constructed. They form a complete set of eigenfunctions for decomposition of any initial perturbation for stable wavy perturbations. A pair of discrete modes appears to ensure completeness in the unstable case. Expansion coefficients for eigenmodes are found, and equivalence of temporal evolution obtained with the help of the evolutionary equation for vorticity and expansion over eigenmodes is presented. This alternative description of the evolution using vK modes is analogous to ones found earlier in plasma and in stellar dynamics. In particular, for stable wavy perturbations, an initial state decays first exponentially due to Landau damping, then algebraically. It has been established (numerically and analytically) that the final decay law is t(-1). Also, we numerically demonstrate that Landau-damped perturbations are not true eigenmodes, but rather a superposition of vK-modes with a real frequency, which does not retain its shape over time. However, solution on contours in the complex plane may exhibit properties of a true eigenmode, that is, decay without changing its spatial form. Energy redistribution between perturbation and the flow, in stable and unstable regimes, is analyzed. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.