Dynamics of partially thermalized solutions of the Burgers equation

The spectrally truncated, or finite dimensional, versions of several equations of inviscid flows display transient solutions which match their viscous counterparts, but which eventually lead to thermalized states in which energy is in equipartition between all modes. Recent advances in the study of the Burgers equation show that the thermalization process is triggered after the formation of sharp localized structures within the flow called "tygers." We show that the process of thermalization first takes place in well defined subdomains, before engulfing the whole space. Using spatio-temporal analysis on data from numerical simulations, we study propagation of tygers and find that they move at a well defined mean speed that can be obtained from energy conservation arguments. Fil: Clark Di Leoni, Patricio. University of Rome “Tor Vergata”; Italia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Mininni, Pablo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Brachet, Marc E.. Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7; Francia