Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering — Volume 35

DYNAMICS OF
WATER WAVES
Selected Papers of
Michael Longuet-Higgins
Volume 2

S G Sajjadi
editor

¥ World Scientific
DYNAMICS OF
WATER WAVES
Selected Papers of
M ichael Longuet-Higgins
Volume 2
ADVANCED SERIES ON OCEAN ENGINEERING

S e rie s E d ito r-in -C h ie f

Philip L- F Liu (Cornell University)

Published
Vol. 2 4 Introduction to N earsh o re Hydrodynam ics
by lb A. Svendsen (Univ. ol D elaw are, USA)
Vol. 25 D ynam ics ol C oastal S ystem s
by Job Dronkers (R ijksw aterstaat, T h e N etherlands)
Vol. 26 H ydrodynam ics Around Cylindrical Structures (R evised Edition)
by B. Mutlu Sumer and Jergen Freds0 e (Technical Univ. of D en m ark,
D enm ark)
Vol. 2 7 N onlinear W a v e s and O ffshore Structures
by Cheung Hun Kim (Texas A S M Univ., U S A )
Vol. 28 C oastal P rocesses: Concepts in Coastal Engineering and Th eir
Applications to Multifarious Environm ents
by Tomoya Shibayama (Y okoh am a National U niv., Ja p an )
Vol. 29 C oastal and Estuarine Processes
by Peter Nielsen (T he Univ. of Q ueensland, Australia)
Vol. 30 Introduction to C oastal Engineering and M a n a g e m e n t (2nd Edition)
by J. William Kamphuis (Q u een 's U niv., C an ad a )
Vol. 31 Japan 's B each Erosion: Reality and Future M e asu res
by Takaaki Uda (Public W orks R esearch C en ter, Japan )
Vol. 32 Tsunam i: T o Survive from Tsunami
by Susumu Murata (Coastal D evelopm ent Inst, of Techn olo gy, Ja p an ),
Fumihiko Imamura (Tohoku Univ., Japan),
Kazumasa Katoh (M usashi Inst, of Technology, Japan ),
Yoshiaki Kawata (Kyoto Univ., Japan),
Shigeo Takahashi (Port and Airport R esearch Inst., Japan ) and
Tomotsuka Takayama (Kyoto Univ., Japan)
Vol. 33 R andom S e a s and D esign of M aritim e Structures, 3rd Edition
by Yoshimi Goda (Y okoh am a National University, Japan)
Vol. 3 4 C oastal D ynam ics
by Willem T. Bakker (D elft Hydraulics, Netherlands)
Vol. 3 5 Dynam ics of W ate r W ave s: S elected P apers of M ichael Longuet-Higgins
V olum es 1 - 3
edited by S. G. Sajjadi (Em bry-R iddle Aeronautical University, U S A )
Vol. 36 O ce an S urface W ave s: Their Physics and Prediction
(Second Edition)
by Stanislaw Ft. Massel (Institute of O ceanology of the Polish A cad em y of
S ciences, Sopot, Poland)

♦For the com plete list of titles in this series, please write to the Publisher.
 Advanced Series on Ocean Engineering — Volume 35

DYNAMICS OF
WATER WAVES
Selected Papers of
Michael Longuet-Higgins
Volum e 2

editor
S G Sajjadi
Embry-Riddie Aeronautical University, USA

World Scientific
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A dvanced Series on O cean E n g in eerin g — Vol. 35

D Y N A M IC S O F W A T E R W A VES
Selected P a p e rs o f M ichael L onguet-H iggins
V olum es 1-3
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 Preface by S G Sajjadi

It is a pleasure and honour to write this b rief preface to introduce this three-
v o lu m e selection o f papers by a clo se colleagu e, Professor M ichael Longuet-
H iggins, FRS.
A s a biographical sketch written by him follo w s this preface I w ill lim it
m y s e lf to som e thoughts o f m ine having to do with his influence on our
com m unity. From the recognition w hich Professor L onguet-H iggins has received
in appreciation o f his work I w ould like to m ention his work on m icroseism s.
S cientists have long know n about m icroseism s, but, until recently, no one
cou ld determ ine w here they cam e from. M icroseism s w ere first recorded as a
strange, continuous buzz on the earliest seism om eters, d evices that m easure
earthquakes. Every year, the cum ulative energy released by these sm all vibrations
equals the am ount o f energy released glob ally from earthquakes. R ecords o f
m icroseism ic activity give scientists a history o f w ave interaction in Earth’s
o cean s sin ce the early 20th century. T hey are also used to exam in e the history
o f storm s over the ocean. S cientists are interested in learning w here these
m icroseism s originate because the inform ation can help them m onitor stress in
Earth’s crust.
T he theory o f the origin o f m icroseism s w as first introduced in 1950 by
M ichael L on gu et-H iggin s w hilst at the U niversity o f Cam bridge in England.
L on gu et-H iggin s su ggested that the vibrations originated in places w here ocean
w a v es w ere traveling in op posite directions toward each other at the sam e
frequency and at a certain ocean depth. A ccording to his theory, w hen these
w a v es co llid e, they com bine to form stationary w aves that remain in a constant
p osition over large areas o f the ocean. T h ese w aves create tall, pulsing colum ns
o f pressure that repeatedly beat dow n on the ocean floor, causing it to vibrate.
T he vibrations generate seism ic surface w av es, w hich spread out thousands o f
m iles and are detected by seism om eters as n oise. T his n ew study on m icroseism s,
w h ich appeared in the March 2007 issue o f the P roceedings o f the R oyal Society,
Series A w as part o f interdisciplinary collaboration, w hich included Longuet-
H ig g in s and researchers from the C alifornia Institute o f T echnology, Pasadena
and the H yd rologic R esearch Center in San D iego.
T his three volu m e set presents selected original research papers o f Professor
L on gu et-H iggin s in the various areas o f w ater w aves, ocean dynam ics, and
fluid m echanics. I b elieve they w ill serve as a m ileston e and beacon for future
generations.
Apart from the subject area covered in these three volu m es, L onguet-H iggins
has published papers in other fields such as electrom agnetic m easurem ent o f
tidal stream s and ocean currents, tim e-varying currents depending on the Earth’s
rotation, projective geom etry, etc. T hese papers have not been included in the
present selection, but it is hoped that they w ill be published in a separate v olu m e
in the near future.
Finally, m y thanks are due to a number o f publishers for their p erm issions for
photographic reproduction o f the original papers. In particular I w ish to thank the
Royal S o ciety o f London, the Oxford U niversity Press, the Cam bridge U niversity
Press, M acM illan Publishing C o., the Journal o f P hysical O ceanography, the
Journal o f M arine Research, the A m erican P hysical S ociety, the A m erican
G eophysical U nion, Prentice-Hall, Pergamon Press and E lsevier P ublishing Co.

S G Sajjadi
E R A U , Florida
D ecem ber 2008
 Preface by M ichael Longuet-H iggins

The practical con sequ en ces o f w ave m otion for both the coastal engineer and the
g eo p h y sicist are m any and varied, and new applications constantly arise to keep
the subject alive. A t the sam e time, surface w aves challenge the fluid dynam ist to
find an explanation for such spectacular phenom ena as w ave breaking, w hen the
upper surface overturns on itself.
The present collection o f original papers is not intended to cover the w hole
subject. It is sim p ly a selection o f basic contributions by a sin gle author and
his collaborators. On reflection, the papers can be seen to have been guided by
certain points o f view : ( 1 ) a preference for sim ple or “p hysical” explanations
w here p ossib le, and particularly for geom etrical interpretations. ( 2 ) a desire
to so lv e problem s by accurate analysis initially, but then to find sim pler
approxim ate m od els, easier to apply in practice. (3) an acknow ledgem ent o f
the need to com pare theoretical results w ith field observations or laboratory
experim ents. Like m any other subjects, fluid m echanics advances by putting one
foot forward and then the other.
For co n ven ien ce, this collection is arranged according to subjects. Included
in this first V olum e are the author’s principal papers on m icroseism s; on m ass
transport by w ater w aves; on stochastic processes, esp ecially applied to w ind-
w aves; on various m echanism s o f w ave generation by w ind; and on the theory
and co n seq u en ces o f radiation stresses (m om entum flux due to w aves).
C onference papers are generally om itted, sin ce usually they con sists o f review s
o f the original papers, doubtless in a m ore readable form . Preceding each group
o f papers, there is a b rief introduction g ivin g the circum stances under w hich the
papers w ere written, and providing further background information.
A s an appendix to V olum e III, a list is given o f the author’s papers on other
subjects. S om e, as for instance tim e-varying ocean currents, are c lo se ly related to
papers in this C ollection , w h ile other subjects are w id ely different.
M y thanks are due to Professor SG Sajjadi for offering to undertake
the editing o f this selection o f m y papers. I w ould also like to express m y
indebtedness to som e o f m y m entors, co llea g u es and collaborators, aside
from those nam ed exp licitly in the subsequent text. In particular I w ish to
m ention C V Durrell, the senior m athem atics don at W inchester C ollege, for his
thorough m athem atical grounding, and for his encouragem ent o f m y first forays
into m athem atical research; to Dr G eorge D eacon , leader o f Group W at the
A dm iralty R esearch Laboratory at Teddington, England, from 1944 to 1949 and
subsequently the first Director o f the U K N ational Institute o f O ceanography
at W itley, for his consistent support; to N orm an Barber, a senior p hysicist in
group W; he w as m y first research supervisor w ho introduced m e to “p h ysical”
w a y s o f look in g at m athem atical problem s; to Sir Harold Jeffreys, for his
inspiring lectures on probability and statistics at C am bridge U niversity; and to
Sir G eoffrey Taylor, for his inim itable style o f research. W alter Munk has been
a lon g-tim e friend and advocate. It is be appropriate to m ention those m any
anonym ous referees w ho have helped m e on m y scientific journey.
Perhaps the greatest credit o f all should go to the subject o f w ater w aves
for affording the student such great pleasure and interest, and to the w a v es
th em selves, for fo llo w in g so obediently the laws o f m athem atical physics.
 A B rief B iograp hy

In 1943, at the age o f seven teen , the author entered Trinity C ollege, Cam bridge,
w ith a scholarship in m athem atics from W inchester C ollege, the school w here he
had spent the first four years o f World War II. A lready he had acquired a taste for
research in geom etry. B y the sum m er o f 1945, he had qualified for a Cambridge
B A in m athem atics. H e w as then required to do three years “work o f national
im portance.” Fortunately for him , he w as assigned to “Group W ” (for w aves) at
the A dm iralty Research Laboratory, Teddington. This Group had been form ed in
June 1944 to study the long-distance propagation o f ocean w aves in preparation
for projected m ilitary operations in the Pacific Ocean. The Group had been
spectacularly su ccessfu l, and its lease o f life had been extended, w ith w ider terms
o f reference. D uring three years at Teddington (1 9 4 5 -8 ), he w orked not only
on the theory o f w ind w aves but also on the geom agn etic induction o f voltages
by tidal streams, and on the generation o f oceanic m icroseism s. In Septem ber
1945, he returned to Cam bridge to read for a PhD. There w as, how ever, no
break in his research; he continued to d evelop the sam e subjects o f interest,
reporting at the end o f each term to Sir Harold Jeffreys, and later to Dr Robert
Stoneley. In 1951, he w as awarded a 4-year research F ellow ship (Title A ) at
Trinity C o llege. The first year (1 9 5 1 -2 ) he spent in the U S A as a C om m onw ealth
Fund Fellow , staying first at the W oods H ole O ceanographic Institute on Cape
C ode, M assachusetts, and then at the Scripps Institution o f O ceanography at La
Jolla, C alifornia, w ith Walter Munk. A t Scripps he becam e interested in w ave
generation by wind, in the statistical properties o f sea states, and in several other
topics.
On his return to England in 1952, he spent tw o years o f his Research
F ellow sh ip in C am bridge after w hich he accepted Dr G eorge D ea c o n ’s invitation
to jo in the n ew ly form ed N 1 0 , the U K ’s N ational Institute o f Oceanography,
at W itley in Surrey. There he w as to spend thirteen happy and fruitful years,
w orking (m ainly) on ocean w aves. A fter 1963, he concentrated m ore on tim e-
varying ocean currents, esp ecia lly those w hich depend essen tia lly on the rotation
o f the Earth. T his period also included visitin g appointm ents in the M athem atics
Departm ent at M IT (1 9 5 7 -8 ), the U niversity o f A delaid e, Australia (1 9 6 4 ) and
at the U niversity o f C alifornia, San D ieg o ( 1 9 6 1 -2 and 1 9 6 6 -7 ). In 1963, he
w as elected to the R oyal S ociety o f London. From 1967 to 1969, he spent two
years a ssistin g in the expansion o f the Departm ent o f O ceanography at Oregon
State U niversity, in C orvallis, O regon, but in 1969, he w as appointed to a Royal
S o ciety R esearch P rofessorship, to be held jo in tly at C am bridge U niversity, in
the D epartm ent o f A pplied M athem atics and T heoretical P hysics, and at The
X

N ational Institute o f O ceanography at W itley. O nce there, he decided on a m ulti­

faceted attack on the problem o f w ave breaking, in volvin g both theory and
innovative experim ents in the field and laboratory. H e w as also free to pursue
research in other subjects.
In 1989, on reaching the age o f formal retirement, he w ish ed to continue
d oing research and for tw o years join ed the La Jolla Institute in San D ieg o ,
C alifornia. In 1991, he w as appointed to a position as a Senior R esearch P hysicist
at the Institute for N onlinear S cien ce in the U niversity o f C alifornia, San D ieg o ,
w ith an A djunct Professorship at the Scripps Institution o f Oceanography. There
he turned attention to the natural sources o f underwater sound, particularly the
sound produced by the creation o f bubbles in breaking w a v es (previou sly this
sound w as call “w ind n oise”). Financial support cam e m ainly from the U S O ffice
o f N aval R esearch and from the N ational S cience Foundation. Since his second
“retirement” in 2 001, he has used his freedom as a R esearch P hysicist Em eritus
to indulge his interest in a variety o f problem s w ithout the n ecessity o f applying
for outside grants. T hese interests have included the dam ping o f incom ing sw ells
by sand ripples, and the construction o f very sim ple but accurate approxim ations
to gravity w aves o f lim iting steepness.
 xi

Contents

Preface by S G Sajjadi v

Preface by M ichael Longuet-Higgins Vll

A B r ie f Biography IX

V olu m e I

Introductory Notes for Part В 1

В. Oceanic Microseisms 3

В 1. Sea W aves and M icroseism s, 5

Nature, Lond. 162 (1 9 4 8 ) 700 (w ith F. U rsell).

B2. A Theory o f the Origin o f M icroseism s, 7

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 243 (1 9 5 0 ) 1-35.

B 3. An Experim ental Study o f the Pressure Variations in 43

Standing Water W aves,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 206 (1 9 5 1 ) 4 2 4 - 4 3 5 (with R.I.B. Cooper).

B4. Can Sea W aves C ause M icroseism s? 55

Proc. Symposium on M icroseism s, U .S. Nat. A cad. Sci. Publ.
3 0 6 ( 1 9 5 2 ) 7 4 -9 3 .

Introductory Notes for Part С 75

С. Mass Transport in Water Waves 77

C l. M ass Transport in Water W aves, 79

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 245 (1 9 5 3 ) 5 3 5 -5 8 1 .

C2. On the D ecrease o f V elocity w ith Depth in an 126

Irrotational Water Wave,
Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 49 (1 9 5 3 ) 5 5 2 -5 6 0 .

C 3. T he M ech anics o f the Boundary-Layer N ear the B ottom in a 135

P rogressive W ave (A ppendix to a paper by R.C.H. R ussell
and J.D .C . O sorio),
Proc. 6th Conf. on C oastal Eng. (M iam i, 1957), pp. 1 8 3 -1 9 3 .

^Conference papers (not included).

xii

C 4. M ass Transport in the Boundary Layer at a Free O scillating Surface, 146

J. F lu id Mech. 8 (1 9 6 0 ) 2 9 3 -3 0 6 .

C 5. Steady Currents Induced by O scillations Round Islands, 160

J. F luid Mech. 42 (1 9 7 0 ) 7 0 1 -7 2 0 .

C6 . Peristaltic Pum ping in Water W aves, 181

J. F lu id Mech. 137 (1983) 3 9 3 -4 0 7 .

In tr o d u c to r y N o te s for P a rt D 197

D. S to c h a stic P ro cesses 199

D l. On the Statistical Distribution o f the H eights o f Sea W aves, 201

J. Mar. Res. 11 (1952) 2 4 5 -2 6 6 .

D 2. T he Statistical Distribution o f the M axim a o f a R andom Function, 223

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 237 (1956) 2 1 2 -2 3 2 (with D .E . Cartwright).

D 3. Statistical Properties o f a M oving W ave-Form , 244

Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 52 (1956) 2 3 4 -2 4 5 .

D 4. On the V elocities o f the M axim a in a M ovin g W ave-F onn, 256

Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 53 (1957) 2 3 0 -2 3 3 .

D 5. The Statistical A nalysis o f a Random , M ovin g Surface, 260

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Loud. A 2 49 (1 9 5 7 ) 3 2 1 -3 8 7 .

D 6. Statistical Properties o f an Isotropic R andom Surface, 327

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 250 (1 9 5 7 ) 1 5 7 -1 7 4 .

D7. A Statistical D istribution A rising in the Study o f the Ionosphere, 345

Proc. Phys. Soc. В 70 (1957) 5 5 9 -5 6 5 .

D8. On the Intervals B etw een S u ccessiv e Zeros o f a 352

Random Function,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 246 (1958) 9 9 -1 1 8 .

D 9. The Statistical D istribution o f the Curvature o f a 372

Random G aussian Surface,
Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 54 (1 9 5 8 ) 4 3 9 -4 5 3 .

D 10. The D istribution o f the S izes o f Im ages R eflected in a 387

Random Surface,
Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 55 (1959) 9 1 -1 0 0 .
 xiii

D ll. T he F ocu sin g o f R adiation by a Random Surface W hen the 397

Source is at a Finite D istance,
Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 56 (1 9 6 0 ) 2 7 -4 0 .

D 12. R eflection and R efraction at a Random M oving Surface. 411

I. Pattern and Paths o f Specular Points,
J. Opt. Soc. Amer. 50 (1 9 6 0 ) 8 3 8 -8 4 4 .

D 13. R eflection and Refraction at a Random M oving Surface, 418

II. N um ber o f Specular Points in a G aussian Surface,
J. Opt. Soc. Amer. 50 (1 9 6 0 ) 8 4 5 -8 5 0 .

D 14. R eflection and Refraction at a Random M oving Surface, 424

III. Frequency o f Tw inkling in a G aussian Surface,
J. Opt. Soc. Amer. 50 (1 9 6 0 ) 8 5 1 -8 5 6 .

D 1 5 .f The Statistical G eom etry o f Random Surfaces, pp. 1 0 5 -1 4 4

in Hydrodynam ic Instability, ed. C.C. Lin, Amer. Math. S oc.,
P rovidence (1960).

D 16. The D istribution o f Intervals B etw een Zeros o f a Stationary 430

Random Function,
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 254 (1962) 5 5 7 -5 9 9 .

D 17. Bounding A pproxim ations to the D istribution o f Intervals 473

B etw een Zeros o f a Stationary Gaussian P rocess pp. 6 3 -8 8
in Time Series Analysis, ed. M. R osenblatt, John W iley and Sons,
N ew York, (1 9 6 2 ).

D 18. The E ffect o f N on-L inearities on Statistical D istributions in the 499

T heory o f Sea W aves,
J. F luid Mech. 17 (1 9 6 3 ) 4 5 9 - 4 8 0 .

D 19. M odified G aussian D istributions for Slightly N onlinear Variables, 521

R adio Sci. 6 8 D (1 9 6 4 ) 1 0 4 9 -1 0 6 2 .

D 20. On the Joint D istribution o f the Periods and A m plitudes o f 535

Sea W aves,
J. Geophys. Res. 80 (1 9 7 5 ) 2 6 8 8 -2 6 9 4 .

D 21. On the D istribution o f the H eights o f Sea Waves: 542

S o m e E ffects on N onlinearity and Finite Band Width,
J. Geophys. Res. 85 (1 9 8 0 ) 1 5 1 9 -1 5 2 3 .

D 2 2. On the S k ew n ess o f Sea-Surface Slopes, 547

J. Phys. O ceanog. 12 (1 9 8 2 ) 1 2 8 3 -1 2 9 1 .
xiv

D 23. On the Joint D istribution o f W ave Periods and A m plitudes in a 556

R andom W ave Field,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 89 (1983) 2 4 1 -2 5 8 .

D24.* Can O ptical M easurem ents Help in the Interpretation o f

Radar Backscatter?,
pp. 1 2 1 -1 2 7 in Satellite M icrowave Remote Sensing,
ed. T.D. A llan, E llis H orwood, C hichester (1983).

D 25. Statistical Properties o f W ave Groups in a Random Sea State, 574

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 312 (1984) 2 1 9 -2 5 0 .

D 26.* W ave Group Statistics, pp. 15-35 in Oceanic Whitecaps, -

eds. E.C. Monahan and G. M acN iocaill, (D. R eidel Publ. C o.,
Dordrecht, 1985).

D 27. On the Skew ness o f Sea-Surface Elevation, 606

J. F luid Mech. 164 (1986) 4 8 7 - 4 9 8 (with M .A . Srokosz).

D 28. An E ffect o f S idew alls on W aves in a W ind W ave C hannel, 618

J. Geophys. Res. 95 (1990) 1765.

In tro d u cto ry N otes for P art F 619

F. W ave A n aly sis and W ave G e n era tio n

F I. Bounds for the Integral o f a N on -N egative Function in 623

Terms o f its Fourier C oefficients,
Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 51 (1955) 5 9 0 - 6 0 3 .

F2. O bservations o f the D irectional Spectrum o f Sea W aves 637

U sing the M otions o f a Floating Buoy,
pp. 111-136 in Ocean Wave Spectra, Prentice H all, N ew York, 1963
(with D.E. Cartwright and N .D . Smith).

F3.* The D irectional Spectrum o f Ocean W aves, and P rocesses o f -

W ave Generation,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 26 5 (1962) 2 8 6 -3 1 5 .

F4. A N onlinear M echanism for the Generation o f Sea W aves, 663

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 311 (1 9 6 9 ) 3 7 1 -3 8 9 .

F5. A ction o f a Variable Stress at the Surface o f Water W aves, 682

Phys. Fluids 12 (1969) 7 3 7 -7 4 0 .
 XV

F6 . S om e E ffects o f Finite Steepness on the Generation o f 686

W aves by Wind pp. 3 9 3 -4 0 3 ,
in A Voyage o f D iscovery (George D eacon 70th Anniversary Vol.),
Pergam on Press, O xford (1977).

F7. Theory o f W eakly Dam ped Stokes W aves: A N ew Formulation 697

and its P hysical Interpretation,
J. F luid Mech. 2 35 (1 9 9 2 ) 3 1 9 -3 2 4 .

In tr o d u cto ry N o tes for P art G 703

G . R a d iation S tresses 705

G 1. C hanges in the Form o f Short Gravity W aves on L ong W aves 707

and Tidal Currents,
J. F luid Mech. 8 (1 9 6 0 ) 5 6 5 -5 8 3 (w ith R.W. Stewart).

G2. T he C hanges in A m plitude o f Short Gravity W aves on 726

Steady N on-U niform Currents,
J. F luid Mech. 10 (1 9 6 1 ) 5 2 9 -5 4 9 (w ith R.W. Stewart).

G3. Radiation Stress and M ass Transport in Gravity W aves, with 747
A pplication to ‘S urf B e a ts’,
J. F luid Mech. 13 (1962) 4 8 1 - 5 0 4 (with R.W. Stewart).

G4. A N ote on W ave Set-U p, 771

J. Mar. Res. 21 (1 9 6 3 ) 4 - 1 0 (with R.W. Stewart).

G5. Radiation Stresses in Water W aves; a Physical D iscu ssion , 778

w ith A pplications,
D eep-Sea Res, 11 (1 9 6 4 ) 5 2 9 -5 6 2 (with R.W. Stewart).

G6 . On the W ave-Induced D ifference in M ean Sea L evel B etw een 812

the Tw o Sides o f a Subm erged Breakwater,
J. Mar. Res. 25 (1 9 6 7 ) 1 4 8 -1 5 3 .

G 7. L ongshore Currents Generated by O bliquely Incident Sea W aves, 1, 818

J. Geophys. Res. 75 (1 9 7 0 ) 6 7 7 8 -6 7 8 9 .

G8. L ongshore Currents Generated by O bliquely Incident Sea W aves, 2, 830

J. Geophys. R es. 75 (1 9 7 0 ) 6 7 9 0 -6 8 0 1 .

G 9 .t T h e A verage W ave Forces A ctin g on W ave Power M achines,

J. Soc. Unden\>ater Tech. 2 (1 9 7 6 ) 4 - 8 .
xvi

G 10. The M ean F orces Exerted by W aves on Floating or Subm erged 842
B od ies w ith A pplications to Sand Bars and W ave Pow er M achines,
Proc. R Soc. bond. A 352 ( 1 9 7 7 )4 6 3 - 4 8 0 .

G 11. T he Propagation o f Short Surface W aves on Longer Gravity W aves, 864

J. Fluid Mech. 177 (1 9 8 7 ) 2 9 3 -3 0 6 .

G 12. The Orbiting D ou b le Pendulum: An A nalogue to Interacting 878

Gravity W aves,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 4 1 8 (1988) 2 8 1 -2 9 9
(w ith K. D ysthe, F.S. H enyey and R.L. Schult).

G 13. Laboratory M easurem ents o f M odulation o f Short-W ave S lopes by 897

L ong Surface W aves,
J. F luid Mech. 233 (1991) 3 8 9 -4 0 4
(w ith S.J. M iller and O.H. Shem din).

V olu m e II

In tro d u cto ry N o tes for P art H 913

H. W aves in S h a l ^ v W ater; B each P rocesses 915

H 1. The Refraction o f Sea W aves in Shallow Water, 917

J. Fluid Mech. 1 (1956) 1 6 3 -1 7 6 .

H2. On the Transformation o f a Continuous Spectrum by R efraction, 932

Proc. Cam. Phil. Soc. 53 (1957) 2 2 6 -2 2 9 .

H3. Sea W aves and Beach Cusps, 936

Geogr. J. 128 (19 62) 1 9 4 -2 0 1 (w ith D.W. Parkin).

H4. On the Trapping o f W ave Energy Round Islands, 944

J. Fluid Mech. 29 ( 1967) 781 - 8 2 1 .

H 5.+ R ecent Progress in the Study o f L ongshore Currents, pp. 2 0 3 -2 4 8

in Waves on Beaches, and Resulting Sediment Transport,
ed. R.E. M eyer, A cad em ic Press, 1971.

H 6 .* The M echanics o f the Surf Zone,

Proc. 13th Int. Cong, on Theoretical and A pplied Mechanics,
M oscow , Springer-Verlag (1972) pp. 2 1 3 -2 2 8 .

H7. On the N onlinear Transformation o f W ave Trains in Shallow Water, 985

Archiw. Hydrotech. 24 (1977) 4 4 5 -4 5 7 .
 xvii

H8. O scillatin g F low O ver Steep Sand R ipples, 998

J. F luid Mech. 107 (1 9 8 1 ) 1 -3 5 .

H 9. W ave S et-U p, Percolation and Undertow in the S urf Zone, 1033

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, 3 90 (1 9 8 3 ) 2 8 3 -2 9 1 .

H 10. On W ave Set-U p in Shoaling Water w ith a Rough Sea Bed, 1046
J. F luid Mech. 5 2 7 ( 2 0 0 5 ) 2 1 7 -2 3 4 .

In tr o d u c to r y N otes for P a rt I 1065

I. N o n lin e a r In te ra c tio n s in S u r fa c e W aves 1067

I I. R esonant Interactions B etw een Two Trains o f Gravity W aves, 1069

J. F luid Mech. 12 (1 9 6 2 ) 3 2 1 -3 3 2 .

12. Phase V elocity E ffects in Tertiary W ave Interactions, 1081

J. F luid Mech. 12 (1 9 6 2 ) 3 3 3 -3 3 6 (with O.M . Phillips).

13. A n Experim ent on Third-Order R esonant W ave Interactions, 1085

J. F luid Mech. 25 (1 9 6 6 ) 4 1 7 - 4 3 5 (with N .D . Smith).

14. On the N onlinear Transfer o f Energy in the Peak o f a 1104

G ravity-W ave Spectrum: A Sim plified M odel,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 47 (1 9 7 5 ) 3 1 1 -3 2 8 .

In tr o d u c to r y N otes for P a rt К 1123

К . S teep , S te a d y G r a v ity W aves 1125

K l. On the Form o f the H ighest P rogressive and Standing W aves in 1127

D eep Water,
Proc. R. Soc. Lo nd. A 331 (1 9 7 3 ) 4 4 5 - 4 5 6 .

K2. On the M ass, M om entum , Energy and C irculation o f a 1139

Solitary W ave,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 3 7 (1 9 7 4 ), 1 -1 3 .

К З. On the M ass, M om entum , Energy and C irculation o f a 1152

Solitary W ave II,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 40 (1 9 7 4 ), 4 7 1 - 4 9 3 (w ith J.D. Fenton).

K 4. Integral Properties o f Periodic G ravity W aves o f Finite A m plitude, 1175

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 42 (1 9 7 5 ) 1 5 7 -1 7 4 .
xviii

K5. On the Speed and Profile o f Steep Solitary W aves, 1193

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 350 (1 9 7 6 ) 1 7 5 -1 8 9
(w ith J.G.B. B yatt-Sm ith).

K6. Theory o f the A lm ost-H igh est Wave: T he Inner Solution, 1208
J. Fluid Mech. 80 (1 9 7 7 ) 7 2 1 -7 4 1 (with M.J.H. Fox).

K 7. Theory o f the A lm ost-H igh est W ave. Part 2. M atching and 1229
A nalytic Extension,
J. F luid Mech. 85 (1 9 7 8 ) 7 6 9 -7 8 6 (with M.J.H. F ox).

K8. S om e N ew R elations B etw een S tok es’s C oefficients in the 1247

Theory o f Gravity W aves,
J. Inst. Math. Appl. 22 (19 7 8 ) 2 6 1 -2 8 3 .

K9. The A lm ost-H ighest Wave: A Sim ple Approxim ation, 1260
J. Fluid Mech. 94 (1 9 7 9 ) 2 6 9 -2 7 3 .

К 10.* The Orbital M otion in Steep Water W aves

(A ppendix to a paper by J.H. N ath),
Proc. 16th Int. Conf. on C oastal Eng. Hamburg, 1979,
pp. 8 7 4 - 8 7 7 .

K 1 1. W hy is a Water W ave like a Grandfather C lock?, 1265

Phys. Fluids 22 (1979) 1 8 2 8 -1 8 2 9 .

К 12. The Trajectories o f Particles in Steep, Sym m etric Gravity W aves, 1267
J. Fluid Mech. 94 (19 7 9 ) 4 9 7 -5 1 7 .

K 13. Spin and Angular M om entum in Gravity W aves, 1288

J. F luid Mech. 97 (1980) 1-25.

К 14. Trajectories o f Particles at the Surface o f Steep Solitary W aves, 1313

J. F luid Mech. 110 (1981) 2 3 9 -2 4 7 .

K.15. On Integrals and Invariants for Inviscid, Irrotational Flow 1322

Linder Gravity,
J. Fluid Mech. 134 (1983) 1 5 5 -1 5 9 .
К 16. N ew Integral R elations for Gravity W aves o f Finite Am plitude, 1327
J. Fluid Mech. 149 (1984) 2 0 5 -2 1 5 .

K.17. Bifurcation in Gravity W aves, 1338

J. Fluid Mech. 151 ( 1 9 8 5 )4 5 7 - 4 7 5 .
 xix

К 1 8.* A N e w Way to Calculate Steep Gravity W aves, pp. 1 -1 5 in

The Ocean Surface,
eds. Y. Toba and H. M itsuyasu, D. R eidel Publishing Co.,
D ordrecht, 1985.

К 19. The A sym ptotic B ehaviour o f the C oefficients in S to k es’s Series 1357
for Surface Gravity W aves,
I.M.A. J. Appl. Math. 34 (1 9 8 5 ) 2 6 9 -2 7 7 .

K 20. A cceleration s in Steep Gravity W aves, 1366

J. Phys. Oceanogr. 15 (1 9 8 5 ) 1 5 7 0 -1 5 7 9 .

K 2 1. A cceleration s in Steep Gravity Waves: 1376

II. Subsurface A ccelerations,
J. Phys. Oceangr. 16 (1 9 8 6 ) 1 3 3 2 -1 3 3 7 .

K 22. Eulerian and Lagrangian A sp ects o f Surface W aves, 1382

J. F luid Mech. 173 (G .I. Taylor S ym posium V ol., 1986)
6 8 3 -7 0 6 .

К23.* Eulerian and Lagrangian W ave M easurem ents,

Proc. Ocean Struc. Dyn. Symp. (C orvallis, O regon, 1986)
1-32.

K 24. Lagrangian M om ents and M ass Transport in Stokes W aves, 1407

J. F luid Mech. 179 (1 9 8 7 ) 5 4 7 -5 5 5 .

K 25. M easurem ents o f the Vertical A cceleration in W ind W aves, 1416

J. Phys. Oceanogr. 17 (1 9 8 7 ) 3-11
(w ith J.A. E w in g and M .A . Srokosz).

K.26. Lagrangian M om ents and M ass Transport in S tok es W aves. 1425

Part 2. Water o f Finite Depth,
J. F luid Mech. 186 (1 9 8 8 ) 3 2 1 -3 3 6 .

K 27. A sym ptotic Theory for the A lm o st-H ig h est Solitary W ave, 1441
J. F luid Mech. 3 1 7 (1 9 9 6 ) 1 -1 9 (w ith M .J.H. F ox).

K.28. A C lose One-Term A pproxim ation to the H igh est S tok es 1460
W ave on D eep Water.
Ocean Engrg. 33 (2 0 0 6 ) 2 0 1 2 - 2 0 2 4 (w ith R.C.T. R ainey).
XX

In tr o d u c to r y N o tes for P a rt M 1473

M . C a p illa r y -G r a v ity W aves 1475

M l. The Generation o f C apillary W aves by Steep Gravity W aves, 1477

J. F luid Mech. 1 6 ( 1 9 6 3 ) 1 3 8 -1 5 9 .

М 2. L im iting Form s for Capillary-G ravity W aves, 1499

J. F luid Mech. 194 (1 9 8 8 ) 3 5 1 -3 7 5 .

М 3. Capillary-G ravity W aves o f Solitary Type on D eep Water, 1524

J. Fluid Mech. 200 ( 1 9 8 9 ) 4 5 1 - 4 7 0 .

M 4. Capillary R ollers and Bores, 1544

J. F luid Mech. 240 (1 9 9 2 ) 6 5 9 -6 7 9 .

M 5. Capillary-G ravity W aves o f Solitary Type and E nvelope 1565

Solitons on D eep Water,
J. F luid Mech. 2 52 (1993) 7 0 3 -7 1 1 .

M6. Parasitic Capillary Waves: A D irect C alculation, 1574

J. Fluid Mech. 301 (1995) 7 9 -1 0 7 .

M 7. Surface M anifestations o f Turbulent Flow, 1603

J. Fluid Mech. 308 (1996) 15 -2 9 .

M8. Capillary Jumps on D eep Water, 1618

J. Phys. Oceanogr. 26 (1996) 1 9 5 7 -1 9 6 5 .

M 9. Experim ents on Capillary-Gravity W aves o f Solitary Type 1627

on D eep Water,
Phys. Fluids 9 (1997) 1 9 6 3 -1 9 6 8 (with X. Zhang).

M 10. V iscous D issipation in Steep Capillary-Gravity W aves, 1633

J. Fluid Mech. 344 (1997) 2 7 1 -2 8 9 .

M l l . + Solitary W aves on D eep Water, pp. 1 4 9 -1 6 7 in

Wind-Over-Wave Couplings. Perspectives and Prospects,
eds. S.G. Sajjadi, N.H . Thom as and J.C.R. Hunt,
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 356 pp. (1999).
 xxi

Volume III

Introductory Notes for Part L 1653

L. Unsteady Free-Surface Flows; Wave Breaking 1657

L I. On W ave Breaking and the Equilibrium Spectrum o f 1659

W ind-G enerated W aves,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 1 0 ( 1 9 6 9 ) 1 5 1 -1 5 9 .

L2. A C lass o f Exact, Tim e-D ependent, Free-Surface F low s, 1668

J. F luid Mech. 55 (1 9 7 2 ) 5 2 9 -5 4 3 .

L3. Periodicity in W hitecaps, 1685

Nature, Lond. 2 3 9 (1 9 7 2 ) 4 4 9 -4 5 1
(w ith M. D onelan and J.S. Turner).

L4. A M odel o f F low Separation at a Free Surface, 1690

J. F luid Mech. 57 (1973) 1 2 9 -1 4 8 .

L5. R eview of: ‘Breaking W aves’, (film ) by G.B. O lsen and 1710
S.P. K jeldsen,
J. F luid Mech 5 7 ( 1 9 7 3 ) 624.

L6. An ‘Entraining P lu m e’ M odel o f a S pilling Breaker, 1711

J. F luid Mech. 63 (1 9 7 4 ) 1 -2 0 (with J.S. Turner).

L7. Breaking W aves — In D eep and S hallow Water, 1731

Proc. 10th Symp. on N aval Hydrodynam ics,
(Cam bridge, M ass. 1974), pp. 5 9 7 -6 0 5 .

L 8 .t R ecent D evelopm ents in the Study o f Breaking W aves,

Proc. 15th Conf. on Coastal Eng. (H onolulu, 1976) pp. 4 4 1 - 4 6 0 .

L9. Self-Sim ilar, T im e-D ependent F low s with a Free Surface, 1740
J. F lu id Mech. 73 (1 9 7 6 ) 6 0 3 -6 2 0 .

L 10. The D eform ation o f Steep Surface W aves on Water. 1758

I. A N um erical M ethod o f Com putation,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 5 0 (1 9 7 6 ) 1 -2 6 (w ith E D. C okelet).

L 11 A C alculation o f U nsteady Surface W aves,

Proc. N th lU TAM C ong. (D elft, H olland, 1976), pp. 4 2 3 - 4 2 4
(with E.D. C okelet).
xxii

L 1 2 .+ A d van ces in the C alculation o f Steep Surface W aves and

P lunging Breakers,
Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on N um erical Ship Hydrodynamics,
B erkeley, 1976 pp. 3 3 2 -3 4 6 .

LI 3.* The C alculation o f Steep Gravity W aves,

Proc. 2nd Conf. on Behaviour o f Offshore Structures,
Trondhein, N orw ay (19 7 6 ) 2, pp. 2 7 -3 9
(with E.D. C okelet and M.J. Fox).

LI 4. The Instabilities o f Gravity W aves o f Finite A m plitude in 1784

D eep Water. I. Superharm onics,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 60 (1978) 4 7 1 - 4 8 8 .

LI 5. The Instabilities o f Gravity W aves o f Finite A m plitude in 1802

deep water. II. Subharm onics
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 36 0 (1 9 7 8 ) 4 8 9 -5 0 5 .

L I6 . The D eform ation o f Steep Surface W aves on Water. 1819

11. Growth o f N orm al-M ode Instabilities,
Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 364 (19 7 8 ) 1 -2 8 (with E.D. Cokelet).

L H .* On the D ynam ics o f Steep Gravity W aves in D eep Water,

pp. 1 9 9 -2 2 0 in Turbulent Fluxes Through the Sea Surface,
Wave Dynamics, and Prediction,
eds. A . Favre and K. H asselm an, Plenum Publ., 1978.

LI 8 . A Technique for Tim e-D ependent Free-Surface F low s, 1847

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 371 (1980) 4 4 1 - 4 5 1 .

L 19. On the Forming o f Sharp C om ers at a Free Surface, 1858

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 371 (1980) 4 5 3 -4 7 8 .

L20. M odulation o f the A m plitude o f Steep Wind W aves, 1884

J. Fluid Mech. 99 (1980) 7 0 5 -7 1 3 .

L 2 1 * The U nsolved Problem o f Breaking W aves, (K eynote A ddress),

Proc. 17th Int. Conf. on Coastal Engineering
(Sydney, Australia, 1980) pp. 1-28.

L22. On the Overturning o f Gravity W aves, 1893

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 37 6 (1981) 3 7 7 -4 0 0 .
 xxiii

L 2 3 .f A Parametric Flow for Breaking Waves,

Proc. Int. Symp. on Hydrodynmics in Ocean Engineering
(Trondheim , 1981), pp. 1 2 1 -1 3 5 .

L 24. Parametric Solutions for Breaking W aves, 1917

J. F luid Mech. 121 (1981) 4 0 3 -4 2 4 .

L 25. B ubbles, Breaking W aves and H yperbolic Jets at a Free Surface, 1939
J. F luid Mech. 127 (1983) 1 0 3-121.

L26. Rotating H yperbolic Flow: Particle Trajectories and 1958

Parametric Representation,
J. Mech. Appl. Math. 36 (1 9 8 3 ) 2 4 7 -2 7 0 .

L 27. M easurem ents o f Breaking W aves by a Surface Jump Meter, 1982

J. Geophys. Res. 88 (1983) 9 8 2 3 -9 8 3 1 (with N .D . Smith).

Ь28.^ Towards the A nalytic D escription o f Overturning W aves, pp. 1 -2 4

in N onlinear Waves, ed. L. Debnath, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1983.

L 2 9 .f Surface W ave Interactions, K eynote Address, pp. 2 9 -3 4

in Proc. 9th Australasian F luid Mech. Conf.
(A uckland, N ew Zealand), 1986, 2 9 -3 4 .

L 30. On the Stability o f Steep Gravity W aves, 1991

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 3 9 6 (1984) 2 6 9 -2 8 0 .

L 31. Bifurcation and Instability in Gravity W aves, 2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 403 (19 8 6 ) 1 6 7 -1 8 7 .

L32. A S tochastic M od el for Sea Surface R oughness I. W ave Crests, 2024

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 4 1 0 (19 8 7 ) 19—33.

ь зз.* A dvan ces in Breaking-W ave D ynam ics, pp. 2 0 9 —230

in Wave D ynam ics a n d Radio Probing o f the Ocean Surface,
eds. O.M . P hillips and K. H asselm ann, Plenum Publ.,
N e w York, 1987.

L 3 4 .f M easurem ents o f Breaking W aves,

in Wave D ynam ics and Radio Probing o f the Ocean Surface,
eds. O .M . Phillips and K. H asselm ann, Plenum Publ.,
N e w York, 1987, 2 5 7 -2 6 4 (with N .D . Smith).
xxiv

L 3 5 .1 M ech anism s o f W ave Breaking in D eep Water, pp. 1 -3 0

in Sea Surface Sound , ed. B. R. Kerman, D. R eidel Publ. C o.,
D ordrecht, 1988.

L 3 6 .f T he D ynam ics o f Bragg-Scattering W aves on the Sea Surface,

pp. 5 7 -8 3 in M athematics in Remote Sensing,
ed. S.R. Brooks, O xford, Clarendon Press (1989)

L37. F low Separation N ear the Crests o f Short Gravity W aves, 2039
J. Phys. Oceanogr. 20 (1990) 5 9 5 -5 9 9 .

L38. A Stochastic M odel o f Sea-Surface R oughness. II, 20 4 4

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 4 35 (1991) 4 0 5 - 4 2 2 .

L39. H igh ly-A ccelerated , Free-Surface F low s, 2062

J. F luid Mech. 248 (1993) 4 4 9 -4 7 5 .

L40. Crest Instabilities o f Gravity W aves. 2089

Part 1. The A lm ost-H igh est Wave,
J. F luid Mech. 258 (1994) 11 5 -1 2 9 (with R.P. C leaver).

L41. Crest Instabilities o f Gravity Waves. 2104

Part 2. M atching and A sym ptotic A nalysis,
J. F luid Mech. 259 (19 9 4 ) 3 3 3 -3 4 4
(with R.P. C leaver and M.J.H. F ox).

L42. A Fractal Approach to Breaking W aves, 2116

J. Phys. Oceanogr. 24 (1994) 1 8 3 4 -1 8 3 8 .

L 4 3 .1 The Initiation o f Spilling Breakers, K eynote A ddress,

Proc. Int. Symp. on Waves — Physical and Numerical Modelling,
U niversity o f British C olum bia, Vancouver, B .C .,
2 1 - 2 4 A ugust 1994, pp. 2 4 - 4 8 .

L44. On the Disintegration o f the Jet in a Plunging Breaker, 2121

J. Phys. Oceanogr. 25 (1995) 2 4 5 8 -2 4 6 2 .

L45. The Crest Instability o f Steep Gravity W aves or H ow D o Short 2126

W aves Break?, pp. 2 3 7 -2 4 6 in The A ir Sea Interface,
eds. M .A . D onelan, W.H. Hui and W.J. Plant, Toronto, Canada,
Univ. o f Toronto Press (1996) 78 9 pp.
 XXV

L 46. Crest Instabilities o f Gravity W aves. Part 3. N onlinear 2136

D evelop m en t and Breaking,
J. F luid M ech.236 (1 9 9 7 ) 3 3 -5 0 (with D .G . Dom m erm uth).

L 47. On the Crest Instabilities o f Steep Surface W aves, 2154

J. F luid Mech. 3 36 (1 9 9 7 ) 5 1 - 6 8 (with M. Tanaka).

Ь48^ Progress Toward Understanding H ow W aves Break,

Proc. 21st Symp. on N aval Hydrodynamics, Trondheim,
Norway, 2 4 -2 8 June 1996, W ashington, D .C .,
Nat. A cad. Sci. Press (1 9 9 7 ), pp. 7 -2 8 .

L49. Shear Instability in Spilling Breakers, 2172

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 446 (1 9 9 4 ) 3 9 9 -4 0 9 .

L50. Instabilities o f a Horizontal Shear F low with a Free Surface, 2183

J. F luid Mech. 364 (1998) 1 4 7 -1 6 2 .

In tr o d u c to r y N o tes for P a rt N 2199

N . S ta n d in g W aves 2201

N 1. T heory o f Water W aves D erived from a Lagrangian. 2203

Part 1. Standing W aves,
J. F lu id Mech. 423 (2000) 2 7 5 -2 9 1 .

N 2. Vertical Jets from Standing W aves, 2220

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 457 (2001) 4 9 5 -5 1 0 .

N 3. On the Breaking o f Standing W aves by Falling Jets, 2236

Phys. Fluids 13 (2001) 1 6 5 2 -1 6 5 9 (with D .G . Dom m erm uth).

N 4. Vertical Jets from Standing Waves: The B azooka E ffect, 2244

pp. 1 9 5 -2 0 4 in lU TAM Sym p. on Free Surface Flows,
ed. Y.D. Shikhm urzaev, K luw er Acad. Publ. (2 0 0 1 ).

N 5. Vertical Jets from Standing W aves. II, 2253

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 4 5 7 (2001) 2 1 3 7 -2 1 4 9
(w ith D .G . D om m erm uth).

N6. A sym ptotic Form s for Jets from Standing W aves, 2266
J. F luid Mech. 4 47 (2 0 0 1 ) 2 8 7 -2 9 7 .
xxvi

N 7. On Steep G ravity W aves M eeting a Vertical Wall: 2277

A Triple Instability,
J. F luid Mech. 4 6 6 (2 0 0 2 ) 3 0 5 -3 1 8 (with D .A . Drazen).

N 8 .* Standing W aves in the O cean, pp. 2 0 1 -2 1 8 in Wind over Waves II:

F orecasting and Fundamentals o f Applications,
eds. S .G . Sajjadi and J.C.R. Hunt, Horwood Publ.,
Chichester, U .K ., (2 0 0 3 ) 232 pp.
 913

Introductory Notes for Part H

H. Waves in Shallow Water; Beach Processes

Papers HI to H ll

Papers H I and H 2 describe the transformation o f a w ave field on entering

sh oalin g w ater w ith a slo w ly varying depth. HI d iscu sses the special (tw o-
d im ensional) situation w hen the depth contours are all parallel to the shoreline,
and H2 d iscu sses the m ost general case. In HI the length o f the w ave-groups and
other statistical parameters for a narrow spectrum are calculated.
Paper H3 (w ith D.W. Parkin) reports som e field studies o f the form ation
o f “beach cu sp s” on beaches w hich consist o f m ixed sand and shingle. The
results em p hasize the im portance o f the local perm eability o f the beach
material.
Paper H7 is concerned with the “transformation distance” o f w a v es in
sh allow water, as observed in laboratory experim ents by B. Boczar-K arakiew itz,
G. B end ykow sk a and others. B y the use o f cnoidal w ave theory, som e sim ple
theoretical exp ression s for the “transformation distance” are derived, w hich
are in agreem ent w ith observed values. The results have application to the
develop m en t o f sand-bars in shallow water.
Paper H 10 describes sim ple experim ents to show that inside the su rf zon e
(that is betw een the breaker-line and the shoreline) the w ave set-up drives
a strong bottom -current offshore. Seawards o f the breaker-line the bottom
current is in the onshore direction, as observed by Bagnold; see Papers C l and
C 3 . H ence the bottom currents converge at the breaker-line, contributing to the
form ation o f the “breaker-bar”. The w ave set-up also induces percolation o f sea
w ater into the beach beneath the surf-zone; this is dem onstrated experim entally.
A s a result oxygen and nutrients w ill be carried down into the sea bed, to a depth
com parable to the w idth o f the su rf zone.
Sand ripples often occur on beaches subject to w ave action, and are revealed
as the tide recedes. Paper H9 d iscu sses the m echanism w hereby these sand
ripples are form ed and m aintained. Vortices in the water are thrown o f f at each
reversal o f the horizontal orbital m otion o f the w aves. A vortex-shedding m odel
o f the water m ovem ent is d eveloped and is show n to lead to the sam e type o f
oscillatory flow as has been observed in laboratory experim ents, and to the sam e
lo ss o f w ave energy.
Paper H l l is a recent sequel. On very sh allow coastlines, w ith bottom
gradients o f order 10 -3, it is show n that ocean w aves m ay be damped entirely by
914

the flow s over a sand-rippled sea bed, in contrast to the m ore usual energy lo ss
through w ave breaking at the upper surface. The theory in v o lv es a gen eralization
o f the theory o f mass-transport in a p rogressive w ave, initiated in V olum e I,
Section C.
H. Waves in Shallow Water; Beach Processes
 917

Reprinted from
J o u r n a l o f F l u i d M e c h a n i c s , Vol. 1, Part 2 , p. 163, J u l y 1956

The refraction of sea waves in shallow water

By M . S. L O N G U E T -H IG G IN S
National Institute o f Oceanography, Wormley

(Received 2 December 1955)

Sum m ary
T h is p ap e r considers the changes th a t occur in th e ch aracter
o f sh o rt-crested sea w aves w h en th e y are refracted b y a
shallow ing d ep th of w ater. B esides a change in m ean w ave­
le n g th and d irection th e re is also a change (usually an increase) in
th e m ean len g th of the crests. I f th e w aves ap p ro ach obliquely
th ey b ecom e skew, th a t is, th e crests becom e sta g g ered one b eh in d
an o th er.
W h e n a sh o rt-crested sea is su p e rp o se d on a long-crested
sw ell, refra ctio n tends to am p lify th e longer w aves m o re th a n th e
sh o rte r ones. T h is also p ro d u ce s an increase in th e m ean len g th
of th e crests.
N u m eric al exam ples are given.

I n t r o d u c t io n
I t is often no ticed th a t sea w aves te n d to becom e m o re reg u lar as th e y
a p p ro a ch a coast, and th a t th e len g th o f th e crests p erp e n d icu la r to th e
d irec tio n o f propagation ap p e ars to increase. Jeffreys (1924) co n sidered
tw o possible ex p lan a tio n s: ( 1 ) n o n -lin ear effects red u ce th e sh o rt-crested
w aves by breaking, w hile the lo n g -crested w aves, b ein g of sm aller am p litu d e,
do n o t b reak u n til la te r ; ( 2 ) th e red u ctio n in d e p th has a g re a te r m agnifying
effect on th e long-crested waves th a n on th e sh o rt-c re ste d w aves of th e sam e
p erio d . O n th e basis of theoretical analysis, Jeffreys d ec id e d in fav o u r o f
th e first alternative.
T h e re are o th e r possible causes, how ever. T h e m o st im p o rta n t o f these,
n o w to be considered, is th e refraction o f th e w aves o n e n te rin g shallow w ater.
I t is well know n th a t w h en w aves e n te r shallow w ate r th e ir velocity an d
w avelength d e c re a s e ; also, if they ap p ro ach obliquely, th e d irectio n o f th e
crests changes so as to becom e nearly parallel to th e sh o re. B u t in general
th e cre st-len g th also changes. I f th e w ater surface w ere a sim ple sine-w ave,
th e w aves w ould be infinitely lo ng-crested an d w o u ld re m a in so after re ­
fractio n . B ut in fact th e sea surface m u s t be th o u g h t o f as th e su m o f a
w hole sp ectru m o f harm o n ic co m p o n en ts h av in g d ifferent w avelengths an d
d ire c tio n s; th e ‘lo n g -c re ste d n e ss 1 d ep en d s o n th e an g u lar d eviation o f th e
w ave co m p o n en ts fro m th e m ean d ir e c tio n : th e sm aller th e deviation, th e
g rea ter is th e ratio of m ean crest-len g th to m ean w avelen g th . R efractio n
th u s affects th e crest-length in th e follow ing tw o w ays.
918

164 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

(1) W ave com ponents o f the same wavelength and different direction are
‘ collim ated ’ so as to becom e more nearly parallel to the coast and to one
an o th er; this tends to dim inish the angular deviation o f the wave com ponents
and to make the waves more long-crested ( § 2 (a)).
(2) W ave com ponents in the same direction but o f different w avelength
are refracted through different angles and so separated (as in the separation
o f w hite light by a p rism ); this tends to increase the angular deviation o f the
wave com ponents and to make the waves more short-crested (§ 2 ( 6)).
T h e two effects (collim ation and separation) are illustrated in § 2 by
considering a sea made up of just two harm onic com ponents. T h e full
representation of the sea surface, w hich requires a continuous spectrum o f
harm onic com ponents, is discussed in §3. In general, the m ean wave­
length, mean crest-length, etc., m ust be defined statistically (see L onguet-
H iggins 1956 a*). T h e changes in these quantities are deduced in § 4 and
§ 5, and a numerical example is given in § 6 .
One o f the more interesting consequences o f refraction is that waves
w hich were originally symmetrical about their m ean direction becom e
skew, i.e. the principal direction of the wave envelope is in a different
direction to that of the crests. T h e waves then tend to line up in an echelon
pattern, each wave crest being displaced (on the average) sidew ays relative
to the preceding crest.
T h e change in the amplitude of the waves is also studied, and it is show n
that the increase in am plitude may itself be considered as a result of refraction.
Finally, in §7, we consider what happens w hen tw o distinct bands of
swell, of different wavelength, are present in the spectrum . For exam ple,
swell from a distant storm may be present sim ultaneously w ith shorter waves
due to local winds. In general, the longer waves are amplified more than the
shorter waves, and so, since the longer waves are usually also m ore long-
crested, there is an increase in the average crest-length. W e calculate the
extent of this increase and give a numerical example.

1. R e f r a c t io n of a s im p l e w ave t r a in

Consider a single, infinitely long-crested train of waves of wavelength

A= 2тг/ео and period r = 2irja approaching a straight coast at an angle в to the
normal (see figure 1 (a)). If the depth o f water varies gradually the wave­
length w ill be related to the local depth h by the equation (see Lamb 1932,
ch. 9)
wtanhzoA • « — = » ', ( 1 .1)
g
where g denotes gravity and a prim e (') denotes the value in deep water.
T h e direction в will depend on the w avelength according to S n ell’s la w :

— = - = - и 2)
sin O' A' w ’ ‘1 -
which may also be written
w sin в = w' sin в’ = constant, ( 1 .3 )
that is, the wave-number parallel to the coast is a constant.
* This p a p er will su b seq u e n tly be re fe rre d to as I.
 919

The refraction of sea waves in shallow water 165

W e shall find it useful to represent the waves by a point P in a w ave­

num ber diagram as in figure 1(6): the direction of O P is opposite to the
direction of propagation of the waves, and the length of O P is w, the wave­
num ber in the direction of propagation. It may easily be show n that the
wave-num ber in any other direction is the projection of O P in that direction ;
in particular the coordinates
(u, в) = (a> cos б, zu sin б) (1-4)
are the wave-num bers perpendicular and parallel to the coast.

i Figure 1. (a) A regular, long-crested train of waves approaching a straight coast ;

(b) its representation in the wave-number diagram.

L et P ' — represent the wave train in deep water, and 'P= (u,v)
the refracted waves. T h en , by (1.1),

= cothwA > 1, (1.5)

and, by (1.3)
V = v', (1.6)
so that the effect of refraction is to displace the representative point P away
from the origin and parallel to the axis of u.

2 . T W O LONG-CRESTED WAVE TRAINS

T w o effects o f refraction can be sim ply seen by considering the sum of a
pair o f long-crested wave trains in the follow ing two cases.
(a) W ave trains having the same wave-number w and slightly different directions
в and в + Ъв
T h e sum o f tw o such trains is a short-crested pattern w hose wave-num ber
is w in a direction perpendicular to the crests and wM along the crests (see
figure 2 (a )). T h e ratio of the w avelength to the crest-length is 80. Let
920

166 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

the tw o wave trains be represented by points PTand P 2 in the w ave-num ber

diagram (figure 2(b)). T hen O P x = O P 2 = w and Z _P iO P 2 = 80. A lso
P jP 2 = w S 9, the wave-num ber along the crests. N ow refraction displaces
Pj and P 2 parallel to the u- axis, and
PjP 2 8 vsec0 cos в'
< 1, ( 2 . 1)
P iP 2 B vsecd' cos в

Figure 2. (a) T he pattern of crests formed by two wave trains of equal wavelength
and slightly different direction ; ( b) their representation in the wave-number
diagram.

since в < 6'. Therefore, refraction increases the length o f the crests,
though the wavelength is dim inished. T h e angle betw een the com ponent
wave trains, which is equal to P jP j/O P ,, is also dim inished.
(6 ) W ave trains having the same direction в but different wave-numbers w and
to + 8*o
T h e sum of two such waves is a pattern w hich is long-crested b u t of
varying amplitude, the waves com ing in 1 groups’ of length v / S w . In the
wave-number diagram the unrefracted waves are represented by two points
P i and P 2 on the same line through the origin (figure 3 (6 )) and w ith
P^P2 = ЗиЛ However, (if Pj and P 2 represent the refracted waves) P ^
does not in general pass through O ; for in that case w e should have
Ьге/го = Bv/v = bw'jv) and so Bw'jBzo = w '/w , whereas in fact we have, on
differentiating equation ( 1 . 1),
Btv/ iff
— = tanh wh + wh sech 2wh > tanh wh « — . (2 .2)
ow tv 4 '
Hence PiPg subtends a positive angle at the origin, and the refracted wave
trains have differing directions. T h u s the refracted pattern is short-crested,
i.e. the crest-length is reduced.
 921

The refraction o f sea waves in shallow w ater 167

Since th e re fra c te d w aves are also of different w avelength, th e resu ltin g

p a tte rn is stag g ered (see I). A sim ilar effect has been p o in ted o u t by
S to n eley (1935) in co n n ectio n w ith seism ic waves refracted a t a d isco n tin u ity .

Figure 3. (a) .The pattern o f crests form ed by tw o wave trains initially in the same
direction and of slightly different wavelength ; (6) th eir representation in the
w ave-num ber diagram.

3. G e n e ra l re p re s e n ta tio n
T o d escribe actual, irre g u la r sea w aves w e use th e rep resen tatio n
d escrib ed in I . I t is assum ed th a t th e w aves in any given locality are
statistically u n ifo rm , a n d th a t th e y co n tain w ave co m p o n en ts o f every possible
w av elen g th an d direction. C o rre sp o n d in g to each w ave n u m b e r (и, v) we
define th e energy d en sity E (u, v) such th a t E dudv is th e en erg y associated
w ith w av e-n u m b ers in a sm all region d udv of th e (u, w)-plane. T h u s the
to ta l en erg y p e r u n it of th e sea surface, for exam ple, is given by

^ = | J E (u ,v )d u d v . (3 .1 )

M a n y of th e fre q u en c y ch a racteristics of th e sea su rface m ay be deriv ed

in te rm s of E (see I). H e re w e shall m ake th e assu m p tio n th a t th e sp e ctru m
is n arro w , i.e. th a t th e energy E is m ain ly c lu ste re d n ea r th e m ean wave­
n u m b e r (u,w ), defined by

I f (u — u ) E du d v = f f (v —v )E d u d v = 0. (3 .2 )
J — C q J — CO j — 00 J — 00

T h e w aves are th e n m ore or less lo n g -crested , h av in g a m ean w av e-n u m b er

w in th e d irec tio n 3 p e rp e n d ic u la r to th e crests, w here
(ii, v) = (aicosfl.w sin f?) (3.3)
922

168 M . S . Longuet-Higgins

(see fig u re 4). L e t coord in ates (£, ij) be taken w ith o rigin a t th e m ean p o in t
an d w ith £ a n d ij m e asu red along and p erp e n d icu la r to O F , so th a t, a p p ro x i­
m ately,

17 = w(e-d) - a>80, J

u.

say. W e define th e m om ents

^20 = J J dtjdr),

Hn = Г П
J — CO J — CO
£vE d£dn, (3.S)

/^02 = [ f d £ d r i,
J —co J —те
an in te rp re tatio n of w hich is as follow s (see I). F irst,
M20 = (3.6)
w here v is th e r.m .s. propo rtio n al sp rea d in w ave-n u m b er in a d irectio n
perpendicular to th e c r e s ts ; v is inversely p ro p o rtio n al to th e average n u m b e r
of waves in a ‘ group Secondly,

^02 = / « o V . (3 -7 )
 923

The refraction of sea waves in shallow water 169

where у is the r.m .s. angular deviation of the waves from their mean
d irectio n ; it m ay be show n that
-^min /л
У = TT— . (3.8)
1 vm ax

where N mux is the average num ber o f tim es per unit distance that the surface
crosses a line at mean level perpendicular to the crests, and iVmin is the
corresponding num ber for a line parallel to the crests. T h u s if A is the т е а л
w avelength and к the m ean crest-length,
Я = 2 jN m„ , к = 2/iVnjn, у = Д/к. (3.9)
T hirdly,
Mn = ^w2(v2- y 2)q, (3.10)
w here q is a measure of the skewness o f the w a v es; it may be show n that
q = b tan 20, (3.11)
w here /3 is the angle between the mean direction of the waves and the principal
direction of their envelope (see I).

4. C hanges due to r e f r a c t io n

If the wave am plitude is sufficiently small, the energy corresponding to

each w ave-num ber is refracted independently. Further, it is assumed that
the energy reflected from the coast is negligible. U nder these conditions,
it may be show n (see L onguet-H iggins 1956b) that if E '(u,v ) denotes the
energy density before refraction and E (u,v) the energy density after re­
fraction, then E is related sim ply to E' by
E (u ,v) = E \u ',v '), (4.1)
w here (и, v) is related to ( u', v ’) as in § 1. H ence a contour of energy density
E' = constant is transformed into a contour E = constant (see figure 4),
though the area enclosed by the contour may be changed, as also may be its
shape.
W e shall consider how the parameters /.i, v, y, q defined above will change
on refraction of the waves. L et (£', 17') be coordinates defined for the un­
refracted waves sim ilarly to (^', 17') for the refracted waves (equations (3.4)).
N ow , to the first order of sm all quantities,

8«i = 4 ^ Sw', (4-2)

aw
w here from ( 1 . 1 )
dw 1
(4.3)
dw' tanh wh + wh sech ^ A
A lso, on differentiating (1.2) logarithm ically, w e have
Ьв W
= Bw —dw', (■*•*)
tan в tan в'
and so, using (4.2) and (1.2),

w = p L ) ta n e s w' + ^ ^ w ' W . (4.5)

\го dw j w tan в
924

170 M . S . Longuet-H iggins

E q u atio n s (4.2) a n d (4.5) m ay be w ritte n

S = x n i'+<x 12r)', 1
(4.6)
V = « 21 1' + * 22 ’?'. J
w here
d£ _ dw
d f 7 ~ 5 ЙГ'
(4.7)
dv / w dw \ „ dr]
dr> a)
ai ta n в
= дё, = { ^ ~ ы ) = ta n в'
T h erefo re,

d (tw ) ~ ( 4 ‘8 )

O ver th e narrow region of integration, a u , a 12, « и , a 22 m ay b e tre a te d as

co n stants. H ence, on changing the variable in (3.1) an d re m e m b e rin g (4.1),
w e have
/j, = a u a 22/x ; (4"-9)

sim ilarly, fro m (3.5) w e find

M20 = a l l a 22(a 11^2o)l

P'U = a l l a 22(a ll *21^20+ a l l a 22 Mil)» (4-Ю )

M02 = a l l “ 22(^21 ^ 20^" ^ “ 21 a 22 M i l + a 22 ^ 02)1

w h ere fi' is th e in itial value of ц , an d so on. T h u s v, q, у are tra n sfo rm e d as
fo llo w s:

v2 = — a?, v' 2
*o* 11 •

(v 2 - y 2)q = - ^ - [ « „ a 21 v '2 + a u a гг( ^ 2 - у ' 2) ^ ] , (4.11)

ZD '2
Г* = ^ H i ‘''2 + 2 a 21 a 22( v ^ - / ^ 4 « | 2 / 2],

(th e b a r in го has been dropped). W e m ay assum e th a t q’, th e skew ness o f

th e unrefracted waves, is zero. T h e n , on in sertin g th e values of a u , a 12, a 22
in (4.11), we have

(„2 _ y 4}q — r ( l —r) ta n в v '2

(4.12)

У2 = ( l - r ) 2 ta n 20 i / 2+ y 'a
w here
to' dw
(4.13)
w dw '
and в is given by Snell’s law (1.2).
 The refraction o f sea waves in shallow water 171

5. D isc u ssio n
T h e first o f eq u atio n s (4.12) gives
v = rv', (5.1)
th a t is to say, th e average n u m b e r o f w aves in a gro u p is div id ed b y r on
refra ctio n . N ow , fro m (4.13), th e factor r m ay be w ritte n
o/ta . o 'lw '
da/dw ' da'/dw '
since, if th e freq u en cies are p reserved, о = o '. B u t tr/w an d dajdw are the
p h ase-velocity an d g roup-velocity respectively, w hose ratio varies from
2 in deep w ate r to 1 in shallow w ater (see L am b 1932, ch. 9). T h u s in
shallow w ater r = 1 / 2 , an d hence th e n u m b e r of w aves in a g ro u p is d o u b led
w h en th e w aves reach shallow w ater. (T h is effect was n o ticed by B arber
(1950) in th e case w hen th e w aves app ro ach th e shore n orm ally.) H ow ever,
if th e w aves w ere rec o rd e d in tim e at a fixed p o in t, th e g ro u p s in th e reco rd
w o u ld app ear to have th e sam e average n u m b e r o f waves, regardless of the
d e p th of w ater.
E q u a tio n s (4.12) show th a t v an d q d ep e n d only on v', th e initial sp read
in w av e-n u m b er, b u t th a t у has a co n trib u tio n fro m b o th v an d у . By
se ttin g у = 0 a n d v -= 0 in tu rn , we see th a t у m ay be eith er g reater or less
th a n у .
T h e average le n g th of th e crests is given by
к = AJy — 2-njyw. (5.3)
So fro m th e th ird o f eq u atio n s (4.12) w e have

^ d - ^ V t a n (5.4)

w h ich show s th a t th e m ean cre st-len g th , also, m ay be e ith e r in creased or

d ecreased by refractio n .
A p articu la rly sim ple case is w h en 6 ' is sm all, o r w h en th e wave crests
are n ea rly p arallel to th e coast. T h e n fro m (1.3),
и>6 = w ' 6 ', (5-5)
ap p ro x im ately, a n d fro m (4.12) a n d (5.4),

* = “ <5-6)
(assu m in g v'9 ‘ y '). T h u s th e average c re st-le n g th rem ain s u n ch an g ed ,
alth o u g h th e average w av elen g th an d th e an g u lar d ev iatio n are b o th
d im in ish ed .
T he wave am plitude
T h e change in am p litu d e o f th e w aves m ay be fo u n d as follow s. I f a
d en o tes th e r.m .s. w ave am p litu d e , th e m e a n en erg y per u n it area of th e sea
su rface is \p g a 2. B u t th is is eq u a l to /x, by definition. T h erefo re, fro m
(4.9), cos в1
926

172 M- S. Longuet-Higgins

Equation (5.7) is a generalization of the well-know n form ula (B urnside 1914)

for the change in am plitude o f waves approaching a coast norm ally; on
setting в = O' = 0, we obtain Burnside’s equation (ii). Since, in general
cos 6 > cos 6', we deduce that waves approaching a coast obliquely are
am plified less than those approaching norm ally.
T o facilitate numerical calculation, we have plotted in figure 5 graphs of

— = tanhojA (5.9)
w
an d
r = ( 1 + 2iuAcosech2wA )_1 (5.10)
as functions of w'k = a2hjg. T h e am plitude function

(зиГ') = (rwlw’y i2 (5.11)

is also shown. W hen w h is large, these all tend to unity.

W hen w'k is sm all, w e have
wJ , . / daA 1*2 (eu'A) - ^4 . . 10.
-~ (a > A )^ , ~ (5Л 2)

(as was first shown by Green, 1838). However, the present linear approxi­
mation is only valid so long as

(5.13)

(Stokes 1847, U rsell 1953), w hich im plies that

<5 1 4 >

If this condition is not satisfied, the waves will depart from the sinusoidal
form, and may becom e solitary waves or may break.

6. N u m e r ic a l e x a m p l e

Suppose that waves of mean period 10 sec approach the shore initially at
an angle o f 60° to the n orm al:

<7 = ~ s e c r \ w' = - = 0-012 f r \ в' = 60°.

10 g
W hen the waves have reached water of depth A *■ 20 ft w e have w'h — 0-25
and so, from figure 5,

£ -0 4 8 , т = 0-54, ( ^ ) ’S - M > 7 .

T h e angle в between the wave crests and the shore is given by

sin в = 0-48 sin 60° = 0 4 2 , 0 = 24°.
Let the initial spread in wave-number be one-quarter of the mean w ave­
number, and the initial spread in direction be 15°:
v' = 0-25, y ' = 0-26.
 927

The refraction o f sea waves in shallow water 173

T h e n , assum ing th a t q' = 0, we have fro m (4.12)

v = 0-135, у = 0-088, ? = 0-68.

T h erefo re, th e an g u lar sp read is red u c ed b y a fac to r y j y = 0-30.

o! s /3

Figure 5. Graphs of the functions w'/w, r and (dzoldw

T a k in g ac co u n t of th e re d u c tio n in m ean w avelength {w 'jw = 0-48), w e see

th a t th e m ean le n g th o f th e crests is m u ltip lie d by 1 -6 , i.e. increased by 6 0 % .
F ro m (3.10), w e fin d fo r th e angle o f skew ness
jS = 27°,
and from (5.8),
a = 0-79a'.
928

174 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

T h u s the r.m .s. w ave am plitude is reduced by 21% , although if the w aves
approached the coast norm ally it w ould be increased by 7% .
E quation (5.14) show s that, for the analysis to be valid, the am plitude a'
in deep water m ust be sm all compared w ith 11 ft.

7. A M IX ED SPEC TR U M

So far we have supposed that the distribution of energy is narrowly

restricted in wave-num ber and direction. It is interesting, how ever, to
consider the changes due to refraction w hen the sea consists o f a long-
crested sw ell superposed on short-crested local waves. U nder these
conditions, the sw ell m ay be expected to be amplified m ore than the local
waves, producing an increase in the length of the crests.
L et the energy function E consist of two parts, E1 and E2, w hich represent
respectively a narrow band o f swell, o f total energy /хг and a local, fairly
short-crested, sea o f total energy /i2.
For sim plicity, we suppose that both system s of w aves are approaching
the coast normally.
T h e average num ber of zero-crossings along a line parallel to the crests
w ill b e denoted sim ply by N (so that N = 2Vmln). It can be show n (see I)
that

7Г J ш
Г ^ B d id n .
тcoJ >• со
(7.1)

So, if ЛГХand N 2 denote the corresponding numbers for the tw o com ponent
system s,
MiV* = K N l + m N i 1
( 7*2 )
/* = H-i+Иг, J
giving
ДГ2 e И- x N l + ^ N l

or, if Oj, a2 are the corresponding r.m.s. wave am plitudes,

. a \N \ + a \N l
N = - ~ 2, I
a\ + e |
• (7.4)
'
T h e amplitudes and wave-numbers are transformed (approximately) as
fo llo w s:

(7.5)

n ' - n *

where wb tv[, w2, w'2 are the values of w and w‘ for the two groups.
These relations enable us to determine N in terms of the initial values o f
fli, at, N 1 and N 2.
 929

T he refraction o f sea waves in shallow w ater 175

F o r exam ple, su ppose th a t th e m ean perio d s o f th e tw o b an d s are 12 sec

an d 6 sec, respectively, an d th e ir r.m .s. angular w id th s are 1 0 ° a n d 2 0 °.
T h e n we have

zUj = 8-5 x 10- 3 f t - \ N ' = 4-7 x l O ^ f t r 1,

w ‘2 = 3-4 x l O ^ f t r 1, TVj = З - Ы О - Ч г 1,

and, if th e w ave am p litu d e s are initially equal, th e c re st-len g th is given by

m = b(N ? + N i ) = 7-2 X 1 0 - « f r 2.
By th e tim e th e w aves have reach ed w ate r o f d ep th 1 0 ft. th e am p litu d es of
th e sw ell an d th e local sea are increased b y 1-35 and 1-01 respectively, an d
we find
N 2 = 6-3 x l ( h « f r 2.

H en ce th e m ean cre st-len g th is m u ltip lie d b y 1-07, i.e. increased b y 7 % .

8. C o n c l u s io n s
W e have show n th a t, w hen a b a n d of w aves w hich h as a fairly n arro w
sp e c tru m in b o th w avelength an d d irec tio n e n te rs shallow w ater, th e
follow ing ch an g es occur.
(1) T h e m ean w avelength decreases an d th e d irec tio n of th e crests
becom es m o re nearly parallel to th e shore.
(2) T h e crests becom e ‘ sta g g e re d ’, i.e. th e en velo p e of th e w aves is
in a different d irection to th e directio n o f th e crests.
(3) T h e m ean cre st-len g th m ay e ith e r increase or decrease, u su ally th e
fo rm e r : if th e w aves are in c id e n t norm ally, th e average cre st-len g th rem ain s
u n a lte re d . T h e ratio o f cre st-len g th to w avelength alm o st alw ays increases.
(4) T h e n u m b e r of w aves in a g ro u p is increased, b ein g m u ltip lied b y 2
w h en th e w aves reach shallow w ater.
(5) T h e a m p litu d e of th e w aves first dim inishes an d th e n increases,
b ein g p ro p o rtio n a l to h r in shallow w ater. T h e in crease is less fo r w aves
a p p ro a ch in g obliquely.
I f th e sp e c tru m of th e w aves is n o t n arro w , or if m o re th a n one n arro w
b a n d is p rese n t, w e m ay ex p e ct th a t th e lo n g e r w aves w ill ev en tu ally be
am plified m o re th a n th e sh o rte r ones. S ince th e lo n g er w aves u sually
hav e a m u c h greater cre st-len g th th a n th e sh o rte r w aves, th is leads to an
in crease in th e cre st-len g th .
T h e above conclusions suggest tw o possible reaso n s fo r th e fre q u en tly
o b serv ed change in c re st-len g th as th e w aves ap p ro a ch th e shore. T h e
first is th e sim p le effect o f refractio n , as describ ed in § 4 and § 5. T h e
seco n d is th e relative am plification of a long ban d o f sw ell, w h ich m ig h t be
h id d e n in d ee p er w ater off-shore.
O u r q u a n tita tiv e analysis is app licab le only so long as th e w aves are
fairly low (see e q u a tio n (5.14)), an d does n o t ap p ly to w aves in shallow w ater
930

176 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

w h ic h have ste e p e n e d a t th e ir crests, still less to b reak in g w aves. F o r

th e se, so m e of th e effects describ ed m ay still be tru e q u alitativ ely , b u t n o n ­
lin e ar effects su ch as th o se p o in te d o u t by Jeffreys (1924) m u s t also b e tak en
in to ac co u n t.

A p p e n d ix
S o m e of th e effects describ ed in th e p rese n t p ap e r are clearly illu stra te d
b y th e aerial p h o to g ra p h sh o w n in p la te 1, fo r w h ich I am in d e b te d to
M r W . W . W illiam s. T h is show s a very regular sw ell ap p ro a c h in g a
co a stlin e in a gradually d im inishing d e p th of w ater. N o t o nly do th e
m e an w avelength an d directio n vary, b u t it w ill b e seen th a t th e w ave
crests arran g e them selves in an echelon p a tte rn w ith an an g le of sk ew ness
th a t becom es v ery p ro n o u n ce d inshore. L in e s of low w ave a m p litu d e
m ay b e trac ed visually over lim ited distances, an d are n o t u n lik e th o se in
fig u re 3 (a).

R eferences
B arb er, N . F . 1950 Ocean waves and swell. L ecture published by In stitu tio n of Civil
Engineers, London.
B u r n s i d e , W. 1915 O n the modification of a train of waves as it advances into shallow
water, Proc. Lond. M ath. Soc. (2), 14, 131.
G r e e n , G . 1838 O n the m otion of waves in a variable canal of small depth and w idth,
Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc. 6, 457.
J e f f r e y s , H . 1924 O n water waves near the shore, Phil. Mag. (6), 48, 44.
L a m b , H . 1932 Hydrodynamics, 6th ed. Cambridge U niversity Press.
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. 1956 a T h e statistical analysis of a random m oving surface,
Phil. Tram . A (in press).
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. 1956 b O n th e transform ation of a continuous spectrum
by refraction, Proc. Camb. P hil. Soc. (in press).
S t o k e s , G. G. 1847 On the theory of oscillatory waves, Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc. 8,
441. Mathematical and Physical Papers, 1, 197. C am bridge U niversity Press.
S t o n e l e y , R. 1935 T h e refraction of a wave group, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 31, 360.
U r s e l l , F. 1953 T h e long-wave paradox in the theory of gravity waves, Proc. Camb.
PHI. Soc. 49, 685.
 931

M . S. L o n g u e t-H ig g in s , T h e re fra c tio n o f sea w aves in s h a llo w w a te r, Pla te I .

Plate 1. Aerial photograph of regular swell approaching a coastline obliquely.

932

R eprinted from the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society,

V olum e 63, P a rt 1, p p . 226-229, 1957.
P R IN T E D I N G R E A T B R IT A IN

ON TH E TRANSFORMATION OF A CONTINUOUS
SPECTRUM BY REFRACTION

By M. S. L O N G U E T -H IG G IN S

Received 6 A pril 1956

W h en w aves are p ro p ag a ted thro u g h a m edium w hose v elocity o f p ro p a g a tio n

varies g rad u a lly from place to place, th e w ave direction an d in te n sity v a ry acco rd in g
to th e law s of refraction. A lthough th e geom etry o f ra y -p a th s h as been well
explored, a n d so also th e laws governing th e in te n sity o f a co h eren t tra in o f w aves,
little a tte n tio n has ap p a ren tly been given to th e v aria tio n in in te n sity o f an
in co h eren t beam having a b ro ad spectrum . T he tran sfo rm atio n of th e en e rg y
sp ectru m is of practical im portance in branches of geophysics, for exam ple, in th e
stu d y of sea w aves entering shallow w ater, or of m icroseism ic w aves p ro p a g a te d
th ro u g h inhom ogeneous regions o f th e e a r th ’s cruat. A ccordingly, i t aeems w o rth
w hile to sta te an d prove th e rule governing th e tran sfo rm atio n of th e tw o-
dim ensional spectrum function of a wave d isturbance undergoing refractio n .
A coherent w ave prop ag ated in a hom ogeneous tw o-dim ensional region m ay be
rep resen ted by th e expression

£ = с cos (их + vy + crt + e), (1 )

w here x and у are rectangular C artesian coordinates and t is th e tim e coordinate. H ere
и an d v are w ave-num bers in th e x an d у directions:

и — w co s6, v = iu s in 0 , (2 )

w here A = 2 ujw is the w avelength and в defines th e direction of p ro p ag atio n . T h e

frequency a is assum ed to be a function of th e w avelength an d th e local p ro p erties o f
th e m edium only. T he am plitude с an d th e phase e are constants.
A n incoherent disturbance m ay be represented (see Longuet-H iggins (1 )) by

£ = '£ ,c n cos(unx + vny + <rnt + en), (3)

П
where th e w ave-num bers (un, vn) are d istrib u ted densely over th e (u, v) p lane, th e
phases en are random ly d istrib u ted w ith uniform p ro b ab ility in th e in te rv al (0 , 2 tt) a n d
th e am plitudes cn are such th a t if (u ,u + du\ v ,v + dv) is any sm all region of th e w a v e ­
num ber plane th en „
2 f a n = E (u, t>) dudv, (4 )
Л

th e sum m ation being over those values of (un, vn) w hich lie in th e infinitesim al
П
region. E (u, v) m ay be called th e energy spectrum of £.
Now suppose th a t th e velocity of propagation varies, b u t so gradually th a t th e
representation of a disturbance by ( 1 ) or (3) rem ains valid in any p articu lar lo cality A .
We shall assum e th a t th e w ave-num bers (u, v) of any particu lar wave com ponent in th e
 933

227 Transform ation of a continuous spectrum by refraction

sp ectru m are tran sfo rm ed continuously. I f we suppose th a t th e energy originates in
a hom ogeneous region A ' (say deep w ate r in th e case o f sea waves) w here th e w ave
n u m b ers h ave th e v alue (u ', v'), th e n (u, v) are functions of (u ', v') an d of th e locality A .
A ssum ing th a t th e m edium is linear, each p a r t of th e spectru m is tran sfo rm ed inde­
p en d en tly , an d so th e energy fu n ctio n E (u , v) depends upon th e in itial energy function
E (u ‘, v1) an d upon A . T he theorem we shall prove is th a t

E (u ,v ) = E ‘(u ',v '). (5)

T h e result, m ay be sta te d in geom etrical language as follows. Im agine E (u , v) as a

surface, raised over th e horizontal (и, v) plane. To find th e h eig h t o f th is surface we

Fig. I. Wave crests (full lines) and orthogonal trajectories (dotted lines) for
a single wave component.

m erely ta k e th e heig h t o f th e in itial surface E ' a t th e p o in t (и v') of w hich (и , v) is th e

tran sfo rm . I n o th e r words, to find th e tran sfo rm ed sp ectru m E we sim ply tran sfo rm
th e coordinates (и ' , «/) b e n e a th th e surface E '\ th e shape of E ' m ay he altered, b u t n o t
its height.
Proof. Consider a com ponent sine-w ave having in itial w av e-n u m b er (u ', v '). L e t
th e crests a n d th e o rthogonal trajecto ries o f th is w ave he d raw n an d le t (s, n) denote
co o rd in ates m easu red along an d p erp en d icu lar to th e trajecto ries (see K g . 1 ). F u rth e r,
le t p d en o te th e p erp en d icu lar d istan ce betw een tw o neighbouring trajecto ries, ju s t
as A d enotes th e distan ce betw een tw o a d ja c e n t crests.
N ow th e energy corresponding to a sm all region d S = dudv o f th e sp ectru m is equal
to E d S , by definition. F u rth e r, i t m ay be show n th a t th e energy in each p a r t of th e
sp ectru m is p ro p ag a ted along th e corresponding tra je c to ry w ith th e group velocity
dcrldw. T h e flux o f energy betw een tw o neighbouring trajecto ries, givoubyfirf& R^cr/dty,
m u st be c o n stan t, i.e. in d e p en d e n t o f s. T herefore
E d S p d cr/d w = E 'd S 'p 'd a 'Id w '. Ij
934

M. S. L o ngu et -H ig g in s 228
A ssum ing th a t th e frequency a of an y w ave-com ponent is u n a lte re d by refra ctio n , w e
h av e a = cr', dcr — d a ’. Also since w is a function o f w ' only an d is in d e p en d e n t o f в ,
we h av e Э(«-,«) ,n dtu>. 6 \ w dw дв
(7)
dS' d (u ',v') w 'd (w ', 6 ‘) w' dw' д в ''
1S' p w дв
T herefore from ( 6 ) (8 )
E p 'w ' д в ''
W e shall show th a t th e rig h t-h a n d side o f th is equatio n is in d e p en d e n t of s.
Some au x iliary form ulae w ill be required. W e have
дв _ _ 1 ЭЛ
(9)
5s ЛЭя’
дв _ Id p
( 10 )
dn pds'

T h e first e q u a tio n expresses th e fac t th a t th e cu rv a tu re of a n o rth o g o n al tra je c to ry is

equal to th e p ro p o rtio n al ra te a t w hich th e norm als to th e tra je c to ry converge. T h e
second eq u atio n expresses a sim ilar relatio n for th e c u rv a tu re o f th e crests. Since
Лос 1lw eq uatio n (9) m ay also be w ritten
дв 1 dw .. j .
3s wdn'
Also le t/ denote an y function (such as w or в) w hich depends on b o th (s, n) a n d ( w \ в ').
T h en if (x,y) are fixed local rec tan g u lar coordinates

df — t f si f0 ^ - +■ sm 6 ~ ,
co
os dx oy
( 12 )

У -:
dn >1
an d so on differentiating w ith respect to в'
1 D Pf af яt \ дв
-dJ dA = -t-sinfl 32/
дв 1 \d sj \ coaeW F x W d y ,И
(13)

Э ( d f\ Э (df\ df дв
th a t is, (14)
д в '\д s) ds \д в ') + %пдв"
д _ ( д /\_ д /д в _
(16)
дв' \дп д п Щ ) d sM "
Now let th e right-hand side of ( 8 ) be differentiated w ith respect to s. On m u ltip ly in g
by p 'w 'jp w we have
p w ' 8 / pw t \b w 1 0 р \Э 0 а /Э 0 Д
(16)
p w ds \ p 'w 'дв '1 ~ \M) ds J‘ p d s ) дв' + 3 s \S fl'j'
B y equation ( 1 0 ) this equals
l dwde_t dede Э /д в \
(17)
w T s M '^ d n W '^ o s ^ ') '
 935

229 Transformation of a continuous spectrum by refraction

On p u ttin g / = в in equation (14) we see that the last two terms in (17) taken together
can be w ritten J) /дв\ 3 Л ЗиЛ 1_0_^ЭыЛ
д в '\S sj \w d n ) wdd' yd n )’
hy (11), and since w is independent of в'. On p u t tin g / = w in equation (15), and since
divide' — 0, we see that (18) is equal to
1 dw дв
~ w d sW '' ( }
Altogether, therefore, (17) vanishes and we have

9 n (20 )
ds\E]
Thus E'IE is a constant with respect to s, and by travelling back along the trajectory
to the homogeneous region A ' we find th at this constant is u n ity :
E'/E = 1. ( 21)
This proves equation (5).
It has been assumed th at it is always possible to return along a trajectory to some
part of the homogeneous region A', i.e. th at no physical obstacles intervene to cut off
part of the spectrum. I f it is not possible to reach A ' along a certain trajectory, then
the energy function E(u, v) for that particular w avelength and direction m ust be zero.
Since trajectories passing through a particular region A may originate in different
parts of the region A 1, it is clear that A' m ust cover in general an area wide compared
w ith the area o f A for which the representation (3) is valid. (In the case of sea waves
A ' is the open ocean.) It has also been assumed that no energy is reflected from the
beach or from any other obstacle.
One consequence of equation (5) m ay be pointed out: contours of constant E'(u ' , «/)
transform into contours of constant E(u,v). In particular, if the original spectrum
function E ‘ has a maximum at the wave-num ber [u , v‘), then the transformed
spectrum E has a maximum at the corresponding point (u, v), and conversely. Thus
there is a one-to-one correspondence between th e m axima o f E ’ and the m axima oiE.
However, the relative importance o f two distinct m axim a of E is not necessarily the
same as th at of the corresponding m axim a o f E'. For the total energy in the

neighbourhood o f (u,v) depends on J J Edudv, which in turn depends on the local

stretching o f the coordinates.
The application of these results to th e case of an incoherent beam of w aves
approaching a straight coast is discussed in another paper (2 ).

REFEREN CES
(1) Longukt-H iggins, M. S. The statistical analysis of a random, moving surface. Phil. Trans. A
(in the Press).
(2 ) L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M. S. The refraction of sea waves i n shallow water. J . Fluid Dynamics
1 ( 1966 ), 163- 176 .

N a t io n a l I n s t it u t e o f O c e a n o g r a p h y ,
W ORM LEY
936

Reprinted from The Geographical Journal, Vol. C X X V I I I , Part 2 , Pp. 194 201
JHwe 1962

SEA W AVES A N D BEACH C U SPS

M . S. L O N G U E T -H IG G IN S a n d D. W. P A R K I N

lth o u g h th e fo rm a tio n and destruction of beach cusps 19 manifestly associated

A with the action of waves breaking on a beach, there are few studies known to us in
which the sea waves have been recorded continuously at the time that the movement of
material is taking place. This paper describes briefly some observations and experi­
ments that were carried out in two places on the south coast of England, at Tide Mill
near Seaford, and on Chesil Bank, to try and relate the formation of the cusps to the
characteristics of the waves. A model-scale experiment performed at the Hydraulics
Research Station, Wallingford, is also reported.
These investigations were stimulated in the first place by the idea that the construc­
tion of the cusps might be due to the occurrence of 'edge waves’, that is to say a type of
wave motion that can occur in the neighbourhood of a sloping beach (Stokes, 1846;
Lamb, 1932). In that case one would have expected a simple relation between the
period of the waves, the slope of the beach and the average cusp-spacing (defined as
the mean longshore distance between adjacent cuspidal promontories). The first series
of observations recorded here showed that no such simple relation exists. On the con­
trary it was found that (over the range of parameters explored) a close correlation exists
between the cusp-spacing and the height of the waves which form them, consistent
with earlier findings of Johnson (1919); and an even closer correlation exists between
the cusp-spacing and the width of the swash zone.
The observations to be described also appear to have some bearing on the mechanism
of cusp formation. The relative power of the backwash to erode material from the
‘bays', for example, is dependent on the relative amounts of upwash and backwash.
The backwash tends to be reduced by any percolation of water into the beach. Hence
the permeability of the material forming the cusps is of some importance. The experi­
ments show that the permeability in the bays is very much less than that on the cusps;
and that this may be ascribed to the presence of an impermeable mixture of material
close to the surface of the bays. In all our observations such an impermeable layer
was present within a few inches of the beach surface, and it seems likely to us that this
is a condition tending to promote instability of the beach profile.
Our observations were made during the summer of 1956; the unusual delay in
presenting them has been due to our sense of their incompleteness. Recently,
however, some interesting model experiments have been performed by Mr. N. C.
Flemming in the Department of Geography at Cambridge University. Taken together
with Mr. Flemming’s experiments, our own results have perhaps a greater interest.
But though we possess this advantage we have tried to present our conclusions here as
far as possible in the same light as we saw them at the time of their completion.
We are indebted to the late Mr. W. V. Lewis, and to Brig. R. A. Bagnold and
Dr. P. H. Kemp for valuable discussions.
Apparatus.—For surveying the beach profile above the waterline, an ordinary sur­
veyor's pole, chain and level were used. One observer carried the pole, to which was
attached one end of the chain, halted at varying distances down the beach, while a sight
was taken from a fixed point above the high-tide level. To survey the profile below the
waterline the pole was carried out farther into the surf. During cold weather a frog­
man's suit was found useful. In the experiments on Chesil Bank, the so-called ‘giraffes’
designed by members of the Department of Geography at Cambridge were also used.
Each ‘giraffe’ consists essentially of a graduated vertical pole, sunk firmly into the
beach, to which is attached a sliding vertical shaft with a broad conical ‘foot’. The
sliding вhaft may be raised by an observer on land, by means of a wire and pulley. To
take a reading, the shaft is first raised clear of beach materia] and then allowed to fall so
that the foot rests on the surface of the beach. The level of the top of the shaft is then
 937

SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS I 95

read against the graduated scale on the fixed pole. To record the waves we used a
standard instrument consisting of a flexible rubber bag, laid on the bottom, and con­
nected by an air-filled tube to a spring bellows ashore. The bellows in turn is con­
nected with a pen recorder. The fluctuating pressure in the waves alternately
compresses and expands the rubber bag and hence gives a deflection of the recording
pen. The height of the breakers was also observed visually against a vertical pole held
in the surf zone.
Observations at Tide Mill
During April 1956 some exploratory observations were made on the shingle bank
between Newhaven and Seaford (50° 46' 50" N, o° 4' 24" E). At the Newhaven end of
the beach the surface shingle is large ( ~ 3 inches diameter) and the beach relatively
steep. No cusps were seen on this part of the beach. On the other hand, at the Seaford
end of the beach the situation is complicated by the presence of groins. So the area
selected was a stretch *4 mile long south of Tide Mill, where the surface shingle has a
diameter of *10—1 inch approximately; a sandy substratum is generally visible between
the high and low water marks.
The tidal range of this part of the south coast is relatively large, the mean range being
about 13 feet. The deepest deposits of shingle are near the high water mark, with only
slight deposits at low water. Cusps were observed both near high water and near low
water, but near low water they were never well-developed or regular. Accordingly
only the cusps near high water have been recorded. In all cases the cusps were formed
just after the turn of the high tide; they were eliminated practically without trace by
the next rising tide. It was found that when a new series of cusps was formed they
were not necessarily in the same positions as the previous series.
The times of close observation of the beach were from 12 to 13 and 23 to 27 April
1956. High-water cusps were seen on three occasions, and the available data con­
cerning them are summarized in Table I. In the last column L denotes the theoretical
longshore wavelength for edge-waves of low amplitude:
гL —*----
T2 sin■ a,
27Г

where g is the acceleration of gravity, = 32 ft/seca; T is the wave period in seconds and
tan a is the gradient of the beach. This is to be compared with the observed cusp-
spacings in the second column of the Table.
T a b l e I. Summary of observations at Tide Mill
Mean spacing Mean period Mean gradient
Date of cusps of tuaves of beach L
12.4.56 16 ft. о in. 3-7 sec. °'i3 4 9 ft. 4 in.
23.4.56 9 ft. 4 in. 2-85 sec. o*i57 6 ft. 5 in.
24.4.56 9 ft. 1 in. 3-55 sec. 0-114 7 ^ - 4 *n.
The immediate conclusion is a negative one: the cusp-spacing iя not simply related
to the period of the waves or to the wavelength of low edge-waves on a beach of the
same mean gradient.
Experiments on the shingle movement
Nevertheless, some suggestive experiments were carried out at this time with the
purpose of throwing light on the process of cusp formation. During periods of cusp
development, the shingle in the swash zone is clearly in a state of flux, being earned
forwards up the beach by the incoming waves and back again, to a greater or less extent,
by the returning backwash. Therefore the question whether the beach is built up or
eroded at any particular point reduces to whether the constructive power of the up-
wash is on the whole greater or less than the destructive power of the backwash.
Now the relative strength of the upwash and backwash is determined partly by the
permeability of the beach: if the beach is permeable, part of the upwash penetrates
938

Ig 6 SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS

downwards and returns by sub-surface percolation, emerging at the surface only much
lower in the swash zone. Accordingly, it was reasoned, the greater the permeability,
the greater the chances of constructive action of the waves {cf. Bagnold, 1940).
After the tide had receded, leaving the system of cusps near the high water mark
fully exposed, two simple experiments were performed:
(1) A 2-gallon can of sea-water was poured quickly on to the beach in one particular
place. On the cusp promontories the water disappeared below the surface quickly,
in under 5 seconds. But if the water was poured into the bays it remained relatively
long on the surface, taking sometimes 60—70 seconds to disappear altogether.
(2) An iron pipe, diameter 4 inches, was driven into the beach to a depth of 3 inches.
Sea-water was poured quickly into the pipe, and the time taken for the last 6 inches of
water in the pipe to disappear was measured. On the cusp promontories, the time taken
was about 4 seconds; in the bays it was more than 25 seconds, and sometimes several
minutes. These experiments seemed to indicate clearly that the cusp promontories
were much more permeable than the bays. The reason for this difference was evi­
dently the difference in composition of the material: the promontories consisted of
coarse shingle, fairly well sorted; but in the bays the impermeable mixture of sand and
shingle which lay beneath the shingle was much closer to the surface and was sometimes
completely exposed.
T o determine the effect of an impermeable layer some inches below the surface, a
third experiment was carried out:
(3) A strip of roofing-felt, 4 x 3 feet, was coated with ‘Slatex1 quick-drying tar, and
covered with shingle from the swash-zone. When this was dry, and before the next
high tide, the roofing-felt, with pebbles attached, was buried in the shingle bank to
a uniform depth of 3 inches. This presumably formed a completely impermeable
layer. The profile of the beach, however, was left so far as possible unchanged. When
the tide rose so that the roofing-felt was again in the swash-zone, the waves quickly
eroded the shingle overlying the roofing-felt but disturbed only to a lesser extent the
shingle on either side. This result was attributed to the fact that over the roofing-felt
the backwash could not penetrate to a depth of more than 3 inches, and so the back­
wash there was relatively undiminished.
Observations on Chesil Bank
During June and July 1956 a joint investigation was undertaken with a research team
under the direction of Mrs. C. A. Buckley, on a part of the Chesil Beach west of
Abbotsbury (50° o' 6" N, 2° 38' 50" W). It was possible to obtain almost continuous
observations of the sea conditions and the consequent changes in beach profile. We
are much indebted to Mrs. Buckley and her team for their collaboration. On this part
of Chesil Bank, the mean tidal range is somewhat less than at Tide Mill, about 5-2 feet.
The shingle in the swash-zone is generally of a comparable diameter, between'm and
1 inch, and very well rounded. Depending on the preceding conditions, there is
usually also ал underlying stratum of finer shingle, grading to sand and gravel, which is
exposed at low water spring tides. The period of continuous observation was from
8 June to 10 July 1956. A list of the occasions on which cusps occurred is shown in
Figure I. The second column shows a histogram of the cusp-spacing. The t h i r d
column shows a profile of the beach, indicating the position of the cusps. The last
columns give a summary of the wave conditions at the time of cusp formation; the
swash-length is defined as the width of the beach between the breaking-point and
the highest point reached by the swash, averaged over long-shore distance and over
time.
The mean spacing of the cusps is shown plotted in Figure 2 against (a) the corres­
ponding wave period, (i) the wave height and (c) the swash length. Clearly there is
little correlation between the cusp-spacing and the wave period. A closer correlation
exists between cusp-spacing and wave height. In Figure 2 (b) the two points which lie
above the trend of the others correspond to June 9 and June 18, when the gradient of
the beach was relatively steep. Hence the swash length on those occasions was less, and
 939

SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS 197

B A T1 H I1 T 0 C R AM OF CU&P SPAC IN G M EAN P R O F ik C O f ЛШАСН

* £1 1 l!
i ! *
5 i II
3 2 3

1* 6-2 sec e'o 1a

aV 41 sec i« so*

i‘o“ s-4 see a i* ю"

JL
o' 9“ 6-2 s e c а a" о 1Г

Л J___ 1___ I___ I

33 5 !- a' з' e ■bs see j *e“ o‘ 6*

l V 5 - 0 SBC j S* < V

16 d-з sec 20 in

<V 63see n 1*7*

1*6" M tcc is i%e

>0 20 X) AO 50 30 40 60 *0
CUSP SPACIMC IN FEET H O f t llO N T A L O IS T A M C f IN F E E T

Fig. I . of cusp observations on Chesil Bankyfrom 9 June to 10 July 19 5 &-

The beach profile is relative to low tide level
940

198 SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS

the correlation between cusp-spacing and swash length is somewhat closer, as is

shown by Figure 2(c). There appears to be quite a close connection1 between the
wave height and the product of swash length and beach gradient (see the last column
of Fig. 1). Hence a relation very similar to Figure 2(c) will be found between the
cusp-spacing and the ratio (wave height/beach gradient).
In Figure 2(c) it should be noted that, since the variables involved both have linear
dimensions, and their ratio is not constant, there must be at least one other fundamental
length not explicitly shown in the graph; for example, the scale of the beach material,
or the length (v*/gyh where g is the accleration of gravity and v is the kinematical
viscosity of water. (This last quantity must affect both the porosity of the beach and
the frictional stresses exerted by the waves.) Hence there is no strong reason to sup­
pose that the relation indicated by Figure 2(c) will apply to beaches with a particle-
size different from that in the zone of our observations. Nevertheless we have plotted
in Figure 2(c) one additional point derived from an aerial photograph of the beach

(b )

ю 20
CUSP SPACING ( f t .) C U SP SP A C IN G ( f t .)

*0 (C)

✓
/.
I 40

/
•/ ■

•/ ,
/•
-J --------------------L_

CUSP SPACING (FT.)

Fig. 2. The mean cusp spacing, plotted against: {a) mean wave period; (b) mean
breaker height; (c) mean swash length

near Keyhaven, Dorset, taken on 22 January 1954, and kindly supplied by the Beach
Survey Department, Keyhaven, to whom we are indebted. The photograph showed
clearly not only the cusp-spacing but also the minimum extent of the swash zone, as
outlined by white foam. This last point on the graph continues the general trend of
the others. The beach near Keyhaven consists of rather finer material, with a greater

1 S u c h a connection is co n siste n t w ith th e fin d in g s o f G ra n th e m ( 19 5 3 ) on th e r u n - u p o f

waves on sloping stru c tu re s. D e fin in g th e ru n - u p as th e v ertical e x te n t o f th e sw ash above
still-w a te r level, G ra n th e m fo u n d th a t th e ratio o f ru n -u p to w ave h e ig h t w as in th e n e ig h ­
b o u rh o o d o f u n ity fo r s tru c tu re s of ‘pea g rav el1 a n d slopes b e tw ee n 1 5 0 a n d 90°. In o u r ow n
observ atio n s, the swash zone p ro b a b ly e x te n d ed so m ew h at b elow th e s till-w a te r level. I t ia
in terestin g th a t G ra n th e m fo u n d th e ru n -u p to b e co n sid erab ly influenced b y th e p orosity.
 941

SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS 199

admixture of sand, than on the part of the Chesil Bank to which the other measure­
ments refer.
Our results may also be compared with some much earlier conclusions of Johnson
(I 9 I 9)- We quote from p. 4^9 - <rThe width of the intercusp spaces varies with the
size of the waves. When the waves are about an inch in height the cusps are from 3 to
9 inches apart; when the waves are from 1** feet high they are 30— 60 feet apart, while
large storm waves build cusps 100 feet or more apart. These figures are only approxi­
mate, and are based on rough estimates of the wave height close to the shoreline.
Sufficient data have not been secured on which to base a reliable determination of the
precise relation of intercusp space to wave height, but within certain limits there is
a suggestion that doubling the wave height doubles the length of the space.’
In the above quotation the size of the material is not given; but reference to Figure
2(6) will show that our findings are not inconsistent with those of Johnson. Similar
results are stated qualitatively by Patrick and Wiegel (1955, p. 404) quoting an unpub­
lished report by M. P. O’Brien.
ConditioTis for formation of cusps.—The conditions which, during the month of
observation, were found always to accompany the formation of the cusps may be sum­
marized as follows:
(1) The incident sea waves were always normal to the beach, and the breakers were
long-crested. Generally the longer the crests the more regular the cusp-spacing.
Oblique sea waves, observed on several occasions, never produced any trace of a cusp
system. Nor were cusps formed in stormy, confused seas.1
(2) The surface material was capable of being shifted freely by the waves, but within
a few inches of the surface there was always a compact and relatively impermeable layer
of material. The grain-sizes in this latter layer were widely distributed, and the material
consisted either of fine and coarse shingle together, or of fine shingle mixed with
sand or gravel.
As a rule, the most regular cusps formed around low water where the layer of gravel
and sand is nearer the surface. On only one occasion, July 10, were regular cusps
formed higher up the beach. Just before this date a period of calm weather and con­
structive waves had shifted nearly all the shingle on the lower beach to points higher
up. On July 10 the cusps started to form on the falling tide and as the tide fell were
extended all the way down the beach. At low water these cusps developed into well-
pointed promontories and bays.

The motion of water and shingle

The movement of water within the swash zone (when the cusps had formed) was
observed by inserting small particles of fluorescene dye into the water. The general
nature of the water movements was very similar to that indicated by Bagnold (1940,
Fig. 19) in the case of some sand cusps on the North African coast. A wave appears
to advance up the beach from the breaker line almost uniformly until it meets
the seawards extremities of the cusps. Encountering the seawards extremity of a cusp,
the wave divides, and water is added to the volume within the bay. Sometimes a kind
of standing wave is formed in the bay, where the water meets. At all events the back­
wash in the bay is greatly enhanced and the erosion of the bay is reinforced. On the
backwash the water from the bay again spreads outwards to either side (see also
Kuenen, 1948). The water percolating through the shingle also drains into the bay
and contributes to the backwash there.
The shingle movement.—By dying some of the pebbles in the bay it was found that
these were washed out into the surf zone; but some returned and were deposited on the
cusp promontories. Thus, material from the bays was used to build the promontories.
A profile of the beach taken through a cusp promontory is illustrated in Figure 3.
Clearly the promontory has been built up by additional material. In a well-formed

1 This finding is in agreement with Palmer (1834),

942

200 SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS

series of cusps, such as that which occurred on Ju ly 8, the slope of the beach on the
promontories was actually in the reverse direction.
Destruction of the cusps.— On more than one occasion the cusps were observed to be
destroyed by an increase in the wave height. T h e swash then ran right up into the
bays, spread out over the promontories, and dispersed them by pushing shingle over
into the bays beyond. It is thus evident that fairly uniform wave conditions are
necessary for the stability of the cusps.

Fig. 3 . Illustrating the profile of the beach taken through a cuspidal promontory

Model experiments
Although many model-scale experiments have been described by previous authors
(e.g. Johnson, 19 19 ; Timmermans, 19 3 5 ; ЕэсЬег, 1937), it may be worth while to
record here a small-scale experiment that was carried out at the Hydraulics Research
Station, Wallingford, with the kind permission of the Director. W e are indebted also
to M r. R . С. H. Russell for his interest and assistance.
In а гяпк 30 feet wide, waves of period 1*5 sec. and height o *68 inches (crest to
trough) w ere directed norm ally to a prepared beach of m ean slope 10 -5 0. T h e beach
m aterial was fine sand. A t first the waves produced regular breakers o f height 1 in ch
approxim ately. But w ithin a few m inutes a regular series of cusps began to form , the
w idths being as follow s:
1 ft. x 1 ins., I ft. 10 ins., 1 ft. 10 ins., 1 ft. 7 ins., 1 ft. 6 ins., 1 ft. 6 ins., 1 ft. 3 ins.,
1 ft. 8 ins., 1 ft. о ins., 2 ft. 2 ins., 2 ft. 9 ins., 3 ft. о ins., 1 ft. 7 ins., 1 ft. 8 ins.,
1 ft. 5 ins.
the average spacing being 1 foot 9 inches. Th e mean width of the swash zone was
zo inches.
A n interesting feature of the cusps was that ‘seawards’ of each promontory there was
a definite gully (clearly marked by the tendency of foam to collect there). Further
inspection showed also that seawards of each bay there was a slight projection, formed
apparently by the deposition of material eroded from the bay. T h e formations were
apparently similar to the ‘deltas' observed cn a full scale by Johnson (19 19 , p. 474) and
Timmermans (1935, Fig. 99). Hence, seawards of the shoreline the Iong-shore profile
was roughly the inverse of the profile through the main cusp system. Although this
inversion of the cusp profile was not noticed in the full-scale observations reported
earlier, there is no reason to think that it was absent, since it may well have been con­
cealed by the incoming waves.
Conclusions
(1) T h e dimensions of the cusps are related more to the length of the swash than to
the wave height or wave period, and for a given beach the mean lateral spacing between
the cusps is an increasing function of the swash length.
 943

SEA WAVES AND BEACH CUSPS 20 1

(2) The cusps seem to form most easily when there is a vertical stratification of
material, with relatively coarse shingle at the surface and a mixed, impermeable layer a
few inches beneath. This can be quite simply explained in terms of the mobility of the
material in the swash zone; an underlying impermeable layer reduces the percolation
of the swash through the beach and so increases the power of the waves to move the
shingle. Further the heaped shingle on the cusp promontories is more permeable than
the thinner layer in the bays, and consequently is less subject to erosion. This con­
tributes to the relative permanence of the cusp system.
(3) Waves whose height is too great for the dimensions of the cusps tend to sweep
over the cusp promontories and destroy them.
References
Bagnold, R . A . 1940 Beach formation by w aves; some model-experiments in a wave tank.
J . Inst. Civ. Eng. i , 2 7 -52 .
Escher, B. G . 19 3 7 Experim ents on the formation of beach cusps. Leid. geol. Meded. 9 , 79—104.
G ranthem , K . N . 19 5 3 W ave run-up on sloping structures. Tram. amer. geophys. Un. 34,
72 0 -4 .
John son, D . W . 19 19 Shore processes and shoreline development. 1st ed. N ew Y o rk : Joh n W iley.
Kuenen, P. H . 1948 T h e formation o f beach cusps. J . Geol. 56, 34-4°-
Lam b , H . 19 3 2 Hydrodynamics. 6th ed., para. 260. C am bridge U niversity Press.
Palm er, H . R . 18 3 4 Observations on the morion o f shingle beaches. Phil. Trans. 224, 567^76.
Patrick, D . A . and R . L . W iegel 19 55 A m phibian tractors in the surf. Proc. 1st. Conf. Ships
and Waves, Hoboken, N .J. Council on wave research, U niversity o f California, pp. 397 “
422.
Stokes, G . G . 1846 R ep ort on recent researches in hydrodynam ics. Brit. Ass. Rep. P t. I , p. 1 .
(Also Collected Papers of S ir G. G. Stokes I , 167.)
T im m erm an s, P . D . 19 35 Proeven over den invloed van golven op een strand. Leid. geol.
Meded. Q, 7 9 -10 4 .
U rsell, F . 2952 E d ge waves on a sloping beach. Proc. roy. Soc. A .214, 79-97*
944

J . Fluid. Mech. ( 1 9 6 7 ), vol. 2 9 , part 4 , p p . 7 8 1 -8 2 1 781

Printed in Great Britain

On the trapping of wave energy round islands

B y M . S. L O N G U E T -H I G G I N S
National Institute of Oceanography, W orm ley, Surrey

(Received 28 December 1966 )

I t is show n t h a t islan d s can tr a p long-w ave energy in a w ay sim ilar to th e c a p tu re

o f a p article b y an ato m ic nucleus. T h e frequencies o f th e c a p tu re d w av es form
a d iscrete set, being d e te rm in e d b y th e shape of th e islan d an d th e co n to u rs o f
th e su rro u n d in g sea bed. I f th e d e p th a t g re a t d istan ces te n d s to a c o n s ta n t v alu e,
th e tra p p e d m odes m u st leak som e energy to infinity, th o u g h th e c o n seq u en t r a te
o f d ecay m a y be exceedingly sm all. T he in itial energy o f th e tra p p e d m odes m a y
b e ab so rb e d from in c id e n t ra d ia tio n o f th e sam e freq u en cy or from a s h a rp pulse.
T h e p a rtic u la r ex am p le o f a rec tilin e ar pulse in c id e n t on a circu lar isla n d is
discussed in som e detail.
T h e effect o f th e ro ta tio n of th e E a r th is to sp lit th e frequencies o f a p a ir o f
w aves progressing in opposite directions ro u n d th e island. T h e sp littin g o f th e
frequencies p roduces slow b e a ts in th e w aves as seen a t an y fixed p o in t. S lig h t
a sy m m e try in th e islan d induces a slow exchange of en erg y betw een each p a ir o f
progressive m odes.
T h e p rese n t in v e stig a tio n w as suggested b y th e occurrence of reg u la r oscilla­
tio n s h av in g a p eriod o f 6 m in a n d a b e a t period of a b o u t 3 h in long-w ave reco rd s
ta k e n a t M acquarie Islan d , in th e S o u th ern Ocean.

C o n t e n ts
1 . In tro d u c tio n .
2 . T h e shallow -w ater equations.
3. T he tra p p in g of w aves on a stra ig h t ledge.
4. P arallel b o tto m contours: th e general case.
5. C ircular b o tto m contours.
6. F ree -waves ro u n d a circular sill.
7. T h e ex c ita tio n o f tra p p e d m odes on a circu lar sill.
8. T he response of a circular sill to a trav e llin g pulse.
9. W ave tra p p in g ro u n d islands of m ore general shape.
10. E ffects of th e e a r th ’s ro tatio n .
11. E ffects o f viscous dam ping.
12. T he response to a b ro ad -b an d spectrum .
13. D iscussion an d conclusions.
Appendix. The maximum value of |Jn(£)|.
 945

^82 M . S . Longuet-H iggins

1. Introduction
D u rin g a re c e n t v isit to th e U n iv ersity of A delaide th e a u th o r w as show n a
long-w ave record m ade a t B uckles B ay, M acquarie Isla n d (lat. 5 4 °3 0 'S ,
168° 58' E ) b y m em bers o f th e D e p a rtm e n t of M athem atics. I n th is record th e re
ap p e a re d a p ro n o u n ced oscillation of period 6 min lasting for a t least 2 days. The
a m p litu d e o f th e oscillations flu ctu ate d w ith a period o f a b o u t 3 h.
M acq uarie Isla n d is a b o u t 22 miles long an d is surrou n d ed b y a narro w shelf
w here th e d e p th is a few h u n d red m etres, th e w hole featu re sta n d in g o u t of w ater
o f oceanic d ep th , a b o u t 4000 m.
T h ese circum stances led th e a u th o r to consider w h eth e r i t w as possible for
ra d ia tio n to be tra p p e d ro u n d th e island b y th e form of th e b o tto m contours, th e
c h a ra c te ristic freq u en cy or frequencies being d eterm ined b y th e dim ensions o f
th e island.
T h e first know n in stan ce o f tra p p e d rad ia tio n in h y d ro d y n am ics appears to be
th e ‘ed g e -w a v e ’ o f S tokes (1846). This is a ty p e of m otion possible in th e n eigh­
b o u rh o o d o f a plane beach inclined to a co n stan t angle a to th e h o rizontal. T h e
w av e progresses parallel to th e shoreline, its am p litu d e dim inishing ex p o n en tially
w ith d istan c e seaw ards (m easured along the botto m ). T he frequency a is co n ­
n e c te d to th e w av e-n u m b er m parallel to th e shoreline b y th e eq u atio n

<r2 = g m s m a , ( 1 -1 )

w h ere g d enotes th e acceleration of g ra v ity (see L am b 1932, p. 260).

S to k e s’s edge-w aves w ere generalized b y U rsell ( 1 952 a ) , w ho show ed th a t i t was

possible to h av e higher m odes of oscillation in w hich th e re w ere n no d al lines
ru n n in g parallel to th e shore, w here n > 0 .
M uch lig h t w as th ro w n on th is phenom enon b y th e w ork o f E c k a rt (1950, 1951)
w ho co n sidered especially w aves whose length was g re a t co m p ared to th e local
d e p th o f w ater. H e p o in ted out, in effect, th a t th e tra p p in g o f w ave en erg y n ea r
th e edge o f th e shoreline was due to th e refraction o f th e w aves to w a rd s th e s h o re ;
th e sp eed o f p ro p ag atio n o f long w aves in uniform d e p th h being equal to (g h )l,
w av es in th e g re a te r d e p th o f w ate r will be p ro p ag a ted a t g re a te r speed, a n d
h en c e re fra c te d tow ards th e shore.
U rsel] (1951) also p roved an aly tically th e existence of tra p p e d w aves trav e llin g
along a subm erged circu lar cylinder. I t is now clear th a t we can consider th e
cy lin d er as a w ave-guide tow ards w hich th e w aves a re re fra c te d b y th e increasing
v elo city o f p ro p ag a tio n on eith er side.
Som e evidence for th e g eneration of edge w aves b y sto rm s trav ellin g p arallel
to th e c o n tin e n ta l shelf was presen ted b y M unk, S nodgrass & C arrier (1956), an d
fu rth e r th e o re tic al calculations rela tin g to th is problem h av e been ca rrie d o u t b y
G reen sp an (1956), R eid (1958) an d K a jiu ra (1958). I n p a rtic u la r R e id (1958)
show ed th a t th e effect of coriolis forces on an edge-w ave trav e llin g p arallel to a
s tr a ig h t coastline was to increase th e velocity o f w aves trav ellin g in one sense
a n d to d ecrease th e velocity of waves travelling in th e o p p o site sense. More
re c e n tly Snodgrass, M unk & Miller (1962) have show n th e p ro b ab le ex isten ce o f
ed g e w aves in th e spectrum of long w aves along th e co ast o f California.
 On the trapping o f wave energy round islands 783

N ow in th e case of an ideal circular island o f sufficiently larg e rad iu s, i t is

e v id e n t t h a t a n y sm ali p o rtio n of th e coast can be re g a rd e d as s tra ig h t locally,
a n d hence we sh all ex p e ct som e w aves to be g u id ed ro u n d th e islan d b y th e
b o tto m to p o g rap h y . M oreover, w e ca n p re d ic t t h a t fo r c e rta in w av elen g th s a n d
frequencies, a tra p p e d w ave, a fte r describing one com p lete circu it, will re m a in in
p hase w ith itself. H ence we ex p e ct a d isc re te se t o f eigenfrequencies, c h a ra c ­
te ristic o f each island. I t rem ains to be seen w h e th e r th e en erg y in each m o d e is
com pletely tra p p e d , or w h eth e r som e is r a d ia te d to infin ity . I n th e la tte r case th e
corresponding eigenfrequency should be com plex. T h e q u estio n of how such
m odes m ay be g en erated h as also to be in v e stig a te d , a n d also w h a t is th e effect o f
coriolis forces.
I n th e p rese n t p ap e r we in v e stig a te th e p ro b lem b y stag es b eg inning w ith
w aves in a uniform d e p th o f w a te r a n d w ith o u t coriolis forces; n e x t show ing th e
m an n er in w hich w aves are tra p p e d alo n g a s tr a ig h t d isc o n tin u ity , a n d th e n
proceeding to th e case of circular sy m m e try . I t is show n th a t for a circu lar ‘ sill ’
eigenfrequencies do exist, b u t if th e d e p th te n d s to a u n ifo rm v alu e a t g re a t
d istances from th e centre, th e n som e en erg y m u s t le a k a w a y to in fin ity . N e v e r­
theless, th e r a te o f d ecay of som e eigenfrequencies is ex tre m ely slow, so t h a t th e
w aves are in effect tra p p e d . T h e situ a tio n is so m e w h at an alo g o u s to th e slow
d ecay of a reso n a tin g bell, w hich ra d ia te s so u n d to infin ity .
I n § 8 w e in v e stig a te th e response of th e sy stem to a p u lse o f en erg y sw eeping
across th e h o rizo n tal plane. T his corresponds ro u g h ly to strik in g th e bell. I t is
show n th a t energy can ind eed b e in je c te d in to th e tra p p e d m odes in th is w ay.
In § 9 we consider how fa r th e re su lts for th e circular islan d m a y be a p p lie d to
islands of o th e r shapes, an d in § 10 we consider th e effect o f th e ro ta tio n o f th e
e a rth . T he ro ta tio n is show n to cause a sp littin g in th e frequencies o f m odes
progressing resp ectiv ely clockw ise a n d anticlockw ise ro u n d th e islan d . T h e
freq u en cy -sp littin g in tu r n produces b e a ts in th e w ave am p litu d e.
T he conclusions are sum m arized in §13.

2. The shallow-water equations

Some lig h t can b e th ro w n on th e phenom enon o f w av e tra p p in g b y considering
th e sim plest possible case: th a t of long w aves in shallow w ate r.
L e t x a n d у b e h orizontal C artesian co-ordinates, a n d le t u , v be th e co rre­
sponding com ponents o f th e velocity. L e t £( x, y, t ) d en o te th e elev atio n o f th e
free surface above its equilibrium level. T h en on th e a s su m p tio n th a t th e v e rtic a l
acceleration is sm all com pared to g (th e acceleration of g rav ity ) it follows th a t
th e excess pressure above th e h y d ro static pressure equals w here p is th e
den sity. H ence th e linearized eq uations o f m otion m a y be w ritte n
 947

784 M . S . Longuet-H iggins

A ssum ing th a t £ is sm all com pared to th e d e p th h( x, y) of w ate r in th e u n d istu rb e d

sta te , w e h av e also th e eq u a tio n o f co n tin u ity

dt = ~ д х ^ ~ д у (2-2)

O n d ifferen tiatin g b o th sides o f (2 . 2 ) w ith resp ect to t an d su b s titu tin g for и a n d v

from eq u atio n s (2 . 1 ) we have

St 2 “ dx\ dt) dy\dt)

= g 7 iV 4 + V (g h ).V Z , (2.3)

w here V 2 d enotes 82j 8x 2 + d2l 8y 2. T hus

<2 -‘ >

A t a d isc o n tin u ity in A we shall assum e th a t

£ is co ntinuous (2.5)

a n d t h a t th e no rm al com p o n en t of th e to ta l flow is continuous, th a t is

A u. n is continuous, u = (u ,v ). (2.6)

T h is assu m p tio n has been show n b y B artholom eusz (1958) to give co rrect resu lts
fo r th e reflexion coefficient o f long w aves in c id en t on a step , even th o u g h th e
v e rtic a l acceleration is n o t sm all locally. A rigid w all is eq u iv ale n t to h « 0.
H en ce on b o th sides o f th e w all

Au. n = 0. (2.7)

W h en th e m otion is sim ple-harm onic, w e m a y w rite

£cc e-**, (2.8)

w here <7 denotes th e ra d ia n frequency. T h en (2.4) becom es

K >; *VA.V£=0. (2.9)

I n th e speoial case w hen th e b o tto m is flat, VA v anish es a n d eq u a tio n ( 2 .8 )

red u c es to / я-а\
(V + jjJ C - O . (2 .Ю)

T h e b o u n d a ry condition (2.6) becom es

Qf*
A ^ is continuous. (2.11)
8n
948

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 785

3. The trapping o f waves on a straight ledge

Th e expression £= A [i (lx + m y — o l ) ] (3.1)
representing a simple harmonic wave o f length L = 2Tjj(l2+ m 2)^ and period
T = 2Trjcr, satisfies equation (2.10) provided that
I й + m 2 = rr2lg h . (3.2)
Hence the speed o f propagation с is given by

( 3 .3 )

by equation (3.2). This is the well-known formula for the speed o f propagation
o f waves in shallow water o f depth h.
H in (3.1) we suppose that I, say, is imaginary, then the solution increases
exponentially in one horizontal direction, the negative ж-direction. The energy
to the right o f any given line x — constant is finite. However, to exclude infinitely
large wave amplitudes as x -> —oo, the left half o f the plane must also be excluded.
A rigid barrier at x = constant is not sufficient, since the boundary condition
there cannot generally be satisfied.
X

///77777777777777777777;

F ig u r e 1. W a v es near a straigh t d iscontin u ity in depth, (a) Seotion in а

v ertica l plane; (6) th e w a ve crests in plan view .
60 F lu id M ech. 29
 949

M . S. Longuet-Higgins

However, we shall see that with a change in depth along the line x = constant
it is possible to have finite energy in the right half-plane.
Suppose then that along the line x = 0 there is a discontinuity in the depth,
with A = h1when x < 0, and A = h2 > when x > 0, as in figure 1. L et us consider
waves which vary harmonically in the ji-direction w ith wave-number m and try
„ .... „ ( A c o s l j^ x + B s i n L x ( x < 0),1
£ = exp \ъ(ту — <rf)] x -J 1 I (3.4)
[ C e - 1»* ( x > 0).J
These expressions satisfy equation (2.10) provided that

4 = S " ma’ K2 = ~ W t + m 2 - (3' 5)

This is possible f i f 2 2
~ < m? < — (3.6)
gh 2 gfh v '
iL . . , A, m 2gh,
that is to say ^ » < 1. (3 .7 )
ft, <r2
T o satisfy the boundary conditions (2.5) and (2.6) at x = 0 we must have A — С
and B l 1 hy = — Cl'2h2 respectively. So writing for convenience A = we have

£ = exp [i{m y — erf)] x | ^ cos h x ~ ^ 2 Agsin lxx (x<0), I

( A M -1** ( x > 0). J
The form o f the solution is as shown in figure l a : in the shallower depth o f
water to the left o f the discontinuity the solution is sinusoidal; in the deeper
water to the right it is exponential. A plan view o f the solution is shown in
figure 1b, the solid lines on the left representing wave crests; and the broken lines
on the right the crests o f waves decreasing exponentially as x increases.
The solution can also be considered from the point o f view o f wave refraction,
as follows. In the region x < 0 the solution (3.8) may be written
£ = £Я[ехр [&&a;+ my - <rf+<?)] + exp 2: + m j(-< rf- £ ) ] ] , (3.9)

where R = (JJAJ+Ii1* !)* , * = tan_1p * - (ЗЛО)

The first term in square brackets in (3.9) represents a wave propagated in the
shadow water Ji = hxto the left o f the discontinuity. The angle o f incidence at the
discontinuity has a sine equal to m j(l\ + tm2)^, that is to say m (gh1)ijor, by (3.6).
The critical angle, on the other hand, has a sine given b y c j c 2, = (A1/A2) i W e see
then from (3.8) that the angle o f incidence exceeds the critical angle and hence
the waves are totally reflected, the reflected wave being given by the second term
in (3.9). On the right o f the discontinuity there is only an exponentially decaying
‘ fringe’ . A t the barrier itself the wave undergoes a phase-change equal to 2S.
I f now a vertical barrier is placed along the line x = — a, forming a ‘ ledge ’ o f
width a and depth hx between x — — a and x — 0, then we must also satisfy the
boundary condition (2.7) at the barrier. W e have then

= 0, (3.11)

•f W ith o u t 1ова o f g en era lity w e m a y assume Zj and l't, i f real, to Ъе positive.

950

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 787

or JS^exp — trt)] s i n ^ a —S) = 0. (3.12)

Hence lxa — S + n n , (3.13)

where n is а л integer. Regarded in another way, the condition (3.11) is equivalent

to specifying that the phases o f the incident and reflected waves at the barrier are
equal. Hence the total phase-change in crossing and recrossing the shelf normally
(y and t held constant) is (2 ll a — 2S) and this must be equal to 2nn. Prom (3.13)
we have у *
t a n ^ a ) = ta n i = jiy . (3.14)
n *1

From (3.5) we have = (1 —hyjh^rn^ — (fei/A2)^i- (3.16)

So on substituting in (3.14) we find

(Ija J ta n & a ) = A ) № -1 (Z,a)2]. (3.16)

Under the conditions o f our problem hJJi^ > 1, so that for given non-zero values
o f m and a the above equation has a discrete set o f solutions. Thus for a shelf o f
given width a and for a given wavelength 2njm along the shelf there exists a
discrete set o f modes in which the energy is trapped over the shelf. The corre­
sponding wave frequencies are found from the relation

= (i1a)* + (ma)®. (3.17)

On squaring both sides o f (3.16) we obtain the relation

(I1e)*[ta n *(I1e) + ( i 1/A1)] = (т а )г [h^hy) (h jh y — 1), (3.18)

which is equivalent to equation (3) o f Snodgrass et al. (1962). These authors have
computed the frequencies corresponding to real values o f the wave-number by.
W e may note in passing that the equation (3.18), since it is derived from squaring
(3.13) contains also solutions corresponding to the situation when 1'г is negative.
These represent waves whose amplitude increases exponentially with distance
from the shelf. Hence they do not correspond to trapped waves.
W e note that (3.18) can also be written

вес2г + Р - ^ = 0, (3.19)

where z = ly a,

p = i (3.20)
К ’
Q = P (P + l )(m a )\

I t can be shown that besides the real solutions to t his equation there exist also
solutions with г complex and 3((1'г) < 0. These represent waves whose amplitude
is a function o f x both over the shelf (x < 0) as well as in the deeper water. Their
50-2
 951

788 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

frequency is complex and their energy increases or decays exponentially f with

the tim e t. Later it will he seen that analogous modes occur also in the solution o f
the period equation for a circular island (see § 6).

4. Parallel bottom contours: the general case

Consider now the general case in two dimensions when the mean depth A is a
function o f x only. The contours o f h = constant are then straight and parallel
to the y-axis.
The differential equation (2.9) reduces to

( V !+ 3 c + i i - 0' '4-‘ >

where a prime denotes differentiation with respect to x. L et us consider waves

which are simple-harmonic in the ^-direction with constant wave-number m.
Then we have
£ = X ( x ) exp [ i ( m y - erf)] (4.2)

and substitution in (4.1) gives

+ ^ Х + ( ~ - т * | Xi = 0. (4.3)
h \gh

which can also be written

(A X ')' + ^ - m 2A j j = 0. (4.4)

Th e behaviour o f X ( x ) depends upon the sign o f the final term. For writing
h X ' = Y we have
X ' = (1/A) F,
(4.6)
7 ’ = - ( о г! д - т Щ .

I f ( агг1д— т 2к) > S > 0 then by plotting X and Y as functions o f a; it is easy to see
that the point (X , F ) describes a path enclosing the origin, that is, X and Y are
oscillatory functions o f x. On the other hand i f (<гг1д — т 2Ь,) < S < 0 as x tends to
infinity, then X and Y both tend to infinity or both tend to zero as x -> oo.
Since we are considering shallow water ( h L ), we are not free to assume that
h -»■ oo as x oo. However, we may suppose that h tends to a finite value ha , say.
Then the behaviour o f X is sinusoidal or exponential at infinity according as
h „ g <тг1дт2. In order that the waves shall have finite energy over the range
(0, oo) it is necessary that hm > сг21дтп2 and that we choose the solution X tending
to 0 as x -> oo. I f h -*■ as x -*■ со, and h -> as h -*■ —oo then in general we
have an eigenvalue problem to solve for X .
I f on the other hand hK < <r2jgm 2 then either the total energy is infinite or else
there is a slow leak o f energy to and from infinity in the ^-direction.

■f These m odes are n o t discussed b y Snodgrass et al. (1962) ■who are concerned o n ly w ith
real values o f ст. Budden (1901) calls such decayin g m odes ‘ le a k y ’ . Snodgrass et al. use the
sam e term in a differen t sense.
952

O n the, trapping of wave energy round islands 789

I t is clear that for any given value o f hw, there will always be frequencies cr and
wave-numbers m such that hm > o-2lgm. Hence on a straight coastline we expect
that there will always be some modes which are trapped at the shoreline. The
contrast with the circular shoreline will now become apparent.

5. Circular bottom contours

L et r and в be polar co-ordinates in the horizontal plane, and suppose that h
is a function o f r only. The bottom contours are then circles centred on the origin.
The differential equation (2.10) reduces to

K K ? - *

where Vi = v \ (r l r f + w ] ’ (6-2)
and a prime denotes differentiation with respect to r. L e t us suppose also that
£ac einS where n is an integer, that is
£ = JJ(r) exp [г(я0 —<rt)]. (5.3)
Then on substituting in (5.1) we have

* ' + ( М М £ - ? ) л * 0 1 < ы )

which can also be written

(h r E 'Y + - ~ \ rR = 0. (5.5)

I f we let h r R ' — S then we have

R' = ~ S
hr (5.6)
and from (5.5) S ' = - { (т ^ / д -п Ч ^ ) R.

A similar argument then shows that R is oscillatory or exponential according as

c 2lg ^ n 2hlr2. (5.7)
N ow if we suppose that as r -*■ oo then the depth h tends to a constant value h^;
the right-hand side o f (5.7) must tend to 0 and so ultimately a 2lg exceeds n 2hlr2.
Hence under these conditions the solution is oscillatory at great distances, and
trapped waves are impossible, with circular symmetry. W e shall see, however,
that i f the wave-number is sufficiently large, then the loss o f energy to in f in it y
can be made exceedingly small.
The physical reason for the impossibility o f perfect trapping is as follows. The
waves tend always to be propagated with the local velocity (g h ) i. W ith circular
symmetry, the average angular velocity o f the waves about the centre is then
(ghfilr. In order that the wave energy shall be refracted inwards, this velocity
must increase, or at least not decrease, as r increases, that is to say

<6 -8 >
 953

790 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

This implies that (g h )i

^ constant; h > constant x r2. (5.9)

That is, h must increase at least like r2 for trapping to he possible.

Generally, i f at some distance from the centre ( a 2jg — n 2hlr2) is negative, it
must change sign at a critical radius r0 say. This will be given by
, n 2gh n 2c2
r2o = - J T = - ^ - ' (5.10)

where с = (g h )i is the local velocity o f propagation o f free waves.

The foregoing conclusions are illustrated by the particular case when the depth
h is everywhere uniform. Then (5.4) becomes

* ' + ‘л ' + ё - ? ) й - 0 <511)

o f which the general solution is

R = A J n(k r) + B Y n(kr) (5.12)

where * = (5-!3)

N o w Jn and Yn have the following asymptotic forms for large n (see Jeffreys &
Jeffreys 1950, §21.06). When £ > n,

(5,14)

и = cos-1 (л /g);
and when £ < n,

(2 ^ ж ) * вХрС“ П(^ 1а11Ьг,)]’

(5.15)
™ ~ - Ы ж Г еХР Н г - t a n h ^ ) ] ,
Z = COsh_ I (7l/g),

(see also Watson 1922 §8.4)f. Thus when £ < n the solutions are exponential,
and when £ > n they are sinusoidal. The transition comes when

kr = i = n (5.16)

n n (g h )i .....
that is to say T ~ Ъ ~ —a ~ ’

which is the turning point given by (5.10).

I t follows that the solution
£ = Jn(Ar)exp[»(m 6-<rt)] (5.18)

f T h ese form ulae, gen era lly attrib u ted to D e b y e (1900), w ere ftret obtain ed b y L . V .
L o re n z (I8 6 0 ). F o r fu rth er term s see B ic k le y (1943].
954

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 791

can be interpreted in the following way (see figure 2). In the region hr > n the
solution is wave-like and equation (6.14) shows that the wave-number in the
radial direction is given b y ^
n — (tanw —и),
dr

— n(sec2u — 1)т^,
ar

= ntaxi2u ^ ^ , (5.19)
dt, dr
и
= я tan2-и cosec
S2
= lcsm u,
= ( Р - я 2/г2)*.

The wave-number in the transverse direction is я/г. Hence the total wave-
number is

k= W < 5 -2 0 )

which is a constant. Hence the wave-length o f the waves is a constant, and the
waves are propagated locally with the free-wave velocity (g h ) i. Moreover, the
angle between the local wave-number and the radius vector is equal to (Jff —u ),
which shows that the perpendicular from the origin to the ray-path has a length
r cos и equal to njk. Hence the тау-paths are straight lines tangent to the critical
circle r = n/k. Incidentally this provides us with an asymptotic method o f con­
structing the phase lines o f the Bessel function solution (5.20): draw the tangents
to the fixed circle r = njk, and then construct the ray orthogonals.
 955

792 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

A precisely similar description applies to the behaviour o f the second solution

£cc Yn(b r ) exp \i(nO— rrt)] outside the critical circle, except that the waves repre­
sented hy the latteT are in quadrature with those represented by the first solution.
The pattern o f crests o f Jn(kr) ein0 is shown in figure 2, Outside the critical
radius r = njk the waves have the form o f spirals so arranged that the local
wavelength is everywhere constant. A t large distances the crests are almost
transverse. As r diminishes they must turn and become more radial, in order to
maintain the same number n o f oscillations round the circumference o f each
circle. A t the critical radius their crests are radial and then can turn no more.
When r < njk the wave-number in the radial direction become imaginary and the
waves increase or decrease exponentially inwards; Jn decreases exponentially,
and Yn increases exponentially as r diminishes. In fact Yn, as is well known, has
a logarithmic singularity at r = 0, but this is over-shadowed b y the factor r~n
which represents an almost exponential increase as r -> 0 .
In the sinusoidal region r > njk, the asymptotic expressions (6.16) show that
the amplitude o f the oscillation is proportional to (t a n «)~ i and hence to r~i as
r со. So the energy density falls off as r-1, and the energy per unit distance r
from the centre is a constant. The total energy o f the disturbance is infinite. In
this sense the energy is not trapped, f
In the neighbourhood o f the critical radius neither o f the asymptotic expansions
(5.16) or (6.17) is applicable. However, in that case it m ay be shown that Jn and
Yn are described asymptotically by A iry functions (see Olver 1954).
A n analogous interpretation may be given o f the Haiikel function solution
£ = H W (k r )e T p [i[n 6 — a t )] (6-21)
and similarly o f the solution with H {%, where
Н У = J L - tlL ,
iT nA
(5.22)
н у = Jn + iYn.
iTn. )

The asymptotic expansions (5.14) show that for large values o f £ greater than n

Я<«(£) ~ ( - ] i exp fe[w(tan u - v ) - {тг}}, (6.23)

and so the solution (5.23) is given by

V ex p {i[7 i(ta n M --it) + w i9-(r<-i77]}, (5.24)

\njrtanw/
where и = arc cos (n jk r). This represents a wave rotating about the origin in the
positive (anticlockwise) direction, and with the arms spiralling outwards to
infinity There is clearly a net flux o f energy radially outwards, given by the time-
mean o f pg£?. 2,nr sin и . с, that is to say
F = 4pgzhjcr. (5.25)
Such a wave is possible physically only i f there is a source o f energy at the origin.
Since Jn — i (H t y + H jj)) the first solution discussed above, namely (5.18) may be
regarded as the sum o f two solutions, in one o f which the energy is spiralling
■f This sense o f ‘ trap pin g* appears to be m ore in accordance w ith norm al usage than
th a t suggested b y Cham bers (1965).
9 56

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 793

outwards, and the other in which it is spiralling inwards, the radial components
o f the two fluxes being equal and opposite. The tangential components o f the
flux are in the same (anticlockwise) sense and reinforce one another. W e m ay note
that since motions proportional to Jn and Yn require a source and sink o f energy
at infinity in order to maintain them, they cannot be said to represent trapped
wave motions.
An important property o f the Hankel function solution (5.22) is that inside the
critical circle it tends to be dominated by the term involving Yn, which as we saw
increases exponentially towards the centre. Hence regarded in the opposite
way, decreases almost exponentially as one travels outwards within this region.
The above property is v ery relevant to the following discussion.

6. Free waves round a circular sill

T o represent a circular sill or sea-mount o f radius a, let us suppose that the
mean depth o f water is given by A — when 0 ^ r < a and A = A2 when r > a
(see figure 3 a). Since £ is to be finite at r = 0 the second solution Yn is excluded
when r < a. L e t us then try
[A J J J c ^ ) (0 $ r < a )l
е - « ч > [ ( м - » ] х | вя1„ (в д (r><>) | («л )

where A and В are constants and where

= П Го- (6.2)
(g h j}i, {gh2) i .

The solution is illustrated in figure 3b. Inside the sill (that is when r < a ) the
solution consists o f tw o systems o f waves propagated along straight trajectories
tangent to the circle kj, r = n. This circle we may call the inner critical circle.
Outside the sill the solution consists o f waves propagated outwards, along
straight trajectories all tangent to the circle k2r = n (the outer critical circle).
Hence there is necessarily some loss o f energy to infinity. However, if the distance
between the outer critical circle and the edge o f the sill is more than a wave-length
2я/&2then because o f the exponential decrease o f noted above, the amplitude
o f the waves at the outer critical circle is exponentially small compared to the
amplitude at the edge o f the sill. Hence the loss o f energy to infinity in one wave
period will be very small compared to the total energy contained over the sill.
The waves are then practically, but not absolutely, trapped.
From the above discussion it appears that two necessary conditions for the
existence o f trapped modes are, first, that the ray paths in the interior must make
with the normal at the sill an angle greater than the critical angle. Hence

n Jh A, ,, .
m > a! ’ n > a ; <**“ >• <6-3>

Secondly, the outer critical circle must be sufficiently far from the edge o f the sill.

fc2(ft/&2 ^ !■» 71 1 (6 -4 )
 957

794 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

.V f 'f w w i — '
V V о I
A.

F iq tjre 3. T h e fo rm o f free w aves trap p ed b y a circular sill, (a) A radial croaa-section;

(6) plan v ie w o f th e w a ve crests.

Since k jk z — ( k j h ^ l it appears that the first condition (6.3) is equivalent to

n > (h i l K )* (k2a), so that i f the second equation (6.4) is satisfied so also is (6.3).
The above arguments also supply us with an approximate estimate o f the
frequencies of the trapped modes. For from (5.24) the phase-change after crossing
from the edge o f the sill to the inner critical radius and back again (keeping в and
t constant) is given by
71
2[m(tan-u — u ) — J jt ], cosm = - — . (6.6)
tCjtt

The constant phase-shift \n is typically associated with a wave caustic such as

the inner critical circle. The above phase must be equal (mod 2w) to the phase
shift at the boundary. Approximating the boundary by a straight edge as in § 3,
■we see that this phase shift is given b y

2tan-1|2-^*, (6.6)
‘ i Ai
958

O n the tra/pping o f wave energy round islands 795

where and 1'2 are given by the same formulae (3.5) as before. Here m denotes the
wave-number along the edge o f the sill, that is to aay

m = n/a, am = n. (6.7)

Hence also i, a — (k\ — m 2)i a — n ta n w (6.8)

and from (3.14) l'2a = n j [ l — ( h j ^ ) s e c 2и ]. (6.9)

So on equating the phases in (6.5) and (6.6) and taking the tangent o f h alf each
angle we obtain

tan [?i(tan и — u ) — Jtt] « ^[(Ag/A^/^/Aj - 1) cot2w - 1}]. (6.10)

Given hi lh1 and n, this equation m ay be solved for u. A graphical solution when
n = 4 and AJAj = -fa, J and ^ is shown in figure 4. The corresponding non-
dimensional frequencies may be defined by

I = . -= = alt, = n sec it. (6.11)

(fffti)*

u
F io u b e 4. Graphs o f the functions

f i ( u ) = tan [n (ta n u —u ) — Jw]t

/ » ( « ) = л/ I W A i ) {(К1>4 ~ 1) cot* и - 1)],

■when n =. 4 and k jh t = -Jj, J and -JL
 959

796 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

The numerical values o f £ for n = 1 to 8 and with the same three values o f h1lh2
are given in table 1.

n =

h j /Л, 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8
/ 3-40 8 4909 6-196 7 -4 2 3 8-61 7 9 -7 8 9 10-944 12-086
— 7 -68 3 9-436 10-823 12-1 34 13-407 14-6 53 15-880
_i_ / — 11-8 98 13-942 15-396 16 -7 5 4 18-0 69 19-356
it | _ — — 16-000 18-4 33 19-9 54 21-347 22-691
— — — — — 22-901 24 -5 0 2 25-927
1 — — — — — - 27 -3 3 2 2 9-0 42

f - 3-887 5 -4 7 4 6-843 8 -11 4 9 -3 3 3 10-521 11-686

* I — — — — — 1 1-9 72 13-597 15-022
JL __ — — — 6 -66 7 7-986 9- 247 10-4 84
1*
T a b u s 1. A p p ro xim ate frequencies o f trap ped m odes o f oscillation,
fro m equation (6.10): values o f £ = <кгКд\)\

To obtain accurate values o f the frequencies and rates o f damping we return

to the solution (6.1) and apply the boundary conditions (2.5) and (2.6) at the edge
o f the sill (r = a). W e have then to satisfy the two equations
A J ^ a ) = B H ^ ^ a ),

where we have written H n for

A k ^ J ' ^ a ) = B k 2h2H 'n{k2a),

and a prime denotes differentiation with

J ( 6 . 12 )

respect to the argument. For brevity write

Ka = W 3 = z = i ~ ib (6-13)
representing a dimensionless frequency, and also

h lk i = (h j h 2) i = e, (6.14)
a constant parameter. Then equations (6.12) may be written in matrix form

( J n(z ) H n(ez)\ _ /0\

(6.15)
U / ;(*) # ;< «)/ \b ) W '
In order that a solution exist the determinant o f the matrix must vanish and so z
must be a zero o f the function
F ( z ) = Jn( z )H ^ (e z )- e J ^ (z ) H n(ez). (6.16)

W e know that the roots o f this equation cannot be real, for the following reason.
W e have seen that there must be a slow leak o f energy to infinity; hence the modes
must decay in time, and cr and likewise z must have a small imaginary part (so
that tj > 0). W e have then to search for the zeros o f F ( z ) in the lower half-plane.
W e shall take the cut in the complex plane associated with the function
H n (ez) to be along the negative imaginary axis. Then the zeros in the left half­
plane are simply the reflexion o f those in the right half-plane. Hence it is sufficient
to find the zeros o f F ( z ) in the lower right half-plane (the fourth quadrant).
960

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 797

The function F ( z ) has no singularities in the finite part o f the plane except at
the origin, where it behaves asymptotically like z_1. Thus it is slightly more
convenient to deal with the function
G (z ) s z F { z ) , (6.17)

which is finite but not zero near the origin.

W e may expect (complex) zeros in the neighbourhood o f the real values which
have already been estimated in table 1. But apart from the zeros representing
trapped modes it can be seen that there must also be an infinite sequence o f zeros
representing modes which decay rapidly with time. These are modes which are
wavelike both inside and immediately outside the sill. A nalytically, i f w e adopt
the asymptotic formulae of § 5, we see that for sufficiently large values o f £

6 ( 2) ~ ^ [ e s i n ( z —/?) + ic o s (z —/?)]exp[i(ez —( } ) ] , (6-18)

where /? denotes (\ n -f J ) n. The exponential factor cannot vanish. A nd since

0 < e < 1 it is easy to see that the vanishing o f the right-hand side implies that

E, - ( i n + l + m)7T, tanh97 = e, (6-19)

where m is an integer. This represents a sequence o f zeros along the line

7j =* tanh - 1 e

below and parallel to the real axis, and spaced at intervals o f 71 . N ote that when
6 = J, J and J we have tanh-1 e = 0-255, 0-549 and 0-973 respectively.
Starting with the approximate values o f z given in table 1 and equation (6.19),
the corresponding roots of G (z ) were determined numerically b y means o f
successive approximations zk (k = 1, 2 ,3 ,...) where zi denotes the first approxi­
mation to any given root and

Ч + 1 = 4 - G {zk)I G '{z k). (6.20)

Convergence was generally rapid. A typical set of results, for h j h 2 = e2 = can

be seen in figure 6 a. The zeros corresponding to a particular value o f n have
been joined by a full curve. W hen n = 6, for example, we find a sequence o f zeros
which for low values o f the frequency, he extremely close to the real axis (the
vertical scale is exaggerated relative to the horizontal scale). These zeros repre­
sent the modes which are virtually trapped by the circular sill. Following the
sequence o f zeros in figure 6 a to the right (£ increasing) we find that the zeros
leave the neighbourhood o f the real axis and tend ultimately to the values given
by (6.19). The transition from the trapped modes to the damped modes takes
place between £ = n and £ = n/e.
The accurate values o f the zeros z « £ —iy corresponding to the trapped, or
almost trapped modes, are given in table 2 . Comparison with table 1 will show
that the real parts £ o f the frequencies agree quite well with the asymptotic
approximation even when the damping, represented by 1j, is appreciable.

■f There is h ow ever a cut through the origin. W e take this to b e fro m 0 to —i 00 alon g th e
n egative im aginary axie.
 798
M . S. Longuet-Higgi'.ia

Figure 6(a). The zeros of в (г) in the fourth quadrant of the г -plane, when Aj/Л, = ^ ; the main sequenoe.
96!
962

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 799

However, tj m ay in some cases be extrem ly small, as was predicted. W hen

AJAj = e2 = ^ and n ^ 4, the damping o f the waves, as given b y the ratio ijl£,
is o f order 10-3 or less.

0 10 20 30

F i g u r e 6 (i>). T h e zeros o f G(z) in th e fou rth quadrant o f th e г -plane, w hen

h jh t = : the rem aining zeros.

The inner and outer critical radii axe also shown in table 2, from which it can
be seen that the damping is least (that is the trapping is most effective) when the
outer critical radius is appreciably larger than a, that is to say when the condition
(6.4) is satisfied. As we saw, this is because o f the exponential decrease o f the
solution between the edge o f the sill and the outer critical circle.
In figure 5 a the first, or left-hand, zero o f each o f the sequences corresponding
to given values o f те, has been joined to the others b y a broken curve. Similarly,
the second zeros are joined b y another broken curve, and so on.
In order to see whether all possible zeros o f 0 (z ) had been found by the pro­
cedure just described, a check was made o f the number o f zeros o f G (z ) lying
within the square (0 < g < 60, 0 < 77 < 60) b y means o f Rouche’s theorem

v a ir (arg G (z )) = 2ir(Z — P ). (6-21)

Here the left-hand side represents the variation o f the argument o f G (z ) round
the boundary Г o f the square, and Z and P denote the number o f zeros and poles
respectively contained within the contour. Since there are no poles within Г,
we have P = 0. So by computing the left-hand side we deduce Z.
I t turned out that several zeros had not been accounted for. B y a systematic
search o f the area the others were then found. They are shown in figure 6 b (for
AJAg = та)- In this figure the vertical and horizontal scales are equal, so that the
 963

800 M . S . Longuet-Higgins

C ritical radii
F req u e n c y D a m p in g A , D D
e
n i V nj£ "/ («A D e(£v)i
(a) e = 0-25
1 3-656 0-1756 0-27 1-09 0-4363 9-938 2-178
’ 4-921 0-6309 x l O - 1 0-41 1-63 0-2560 16-23 1-838
2
L 8-219 0-2774 0-24 0-97 0-5588 8-057 1-480
’ 6-209 0-1246 x l O - 1 0-48 1 93 0-1158 37-17 1-665
3 9-456 0-1566 0-32 1-27 0-4109 10 50 1-351
12-818 0-3383 0-23 0-94 0 6194 7-324 1-190
7 447 0-2172 x 10-5 0-54 2-15 0-04962 91-37 1-660
4 10-798 0-4613 x 1 0 -1 0-37 1-48 0-2180 18-90 1-235
14-027 0-2462 0-29 1 14 0-5289 8-593 1-138
17-426 0-3798 0-23 0-92 0-6563 6-913 1-021
8-646 0 3613 x 10-* 0-58 2-31 0-02066 228-8 1-479
12125 0-1091 x 1 0 -J 0-41 1-65 0-1073 39-37 1-181
ок
15-358 0-9563 x 10"1 0-33 1-30 0-3142 13-14 1-037
18-624 0-3237 0-27 1-07 0-6202 7-665 1 010
( 9-821 0-5798 x 10-* 0-61 2-44 0-008424 581-1 1-412
13-408 0-2362 x 1 0 -s 0-45 1-79 0-05068 85-81 1-139
6 16-723 0-2815 x 1 0 -1 0-36 1 44 0-1703 24-21 0-993
19-922 0 1553 0-30 1-20 0-4046 10 42 0-920
. 23-235 0-3870 0-26 1-03 0-6891 7-122 0 919
' 10-978 0-9019 x 10-» 0-64 2-55 0-003374 1496 1-356
14-661 0-4843 x 10-3 0-48 1 91 0-02322 191-8 1-102
18-055 0-7339 x 1 0 -2 0-39 1-55 0-08791 47-92 0-966
' 21-299 0-5441 x 1 0 -1 0-33 1-31 0-2358 17-34 0-876
24-496 0-2201 0-29 1-14 0-4895 8-896 0-843
„ 27-856 0-4370 0-25 1-00 0-7392 6-765 0-847
’ 12121 0-1368 x 10-5 0-66 2-64 0-001332 3895 1-308
15-890 0-9485 x 10-* 0-50 2-01 0-01038 437-8 1-070
19-352 0-1785 x 10-* 0-41 1-65 0-04379 98-12 0-942
8 22-662 0-1642 x 1 0 -1 0-35 1 41 0-1304 31-76 0-855
25-869 0-8921 x 10“ » 0-31 1-24 0-3022 13-55 0-796
29-083 0-2861 0-27 1-10 0-5689 7-954 0-789
k 32-480 0-4755 0-25 0-99 0-7741 6-512 0-788
(b) e = 0-50
2 4-796 0-7563 0-42 0-83 1-086 2-871 1-140

3 5-632 0-6323 0-53 1-06 1-033 3-269 1-095

4 6-799 0-3703 0-59 1-18 0-6567 3-546 0-828

5 8-021 0-2194 0-62 1-25 0-4877 4-447 0-735

9-240 0-1278 0-65 1-30 0-3731 5-841 0-687

с
6 12-832 1-1768 0-47 0-94 2-199 3-738 1-132

Г 10-444 0-7243 X 10-* 0-67 1 34 0-2855 7-882 0-656

\ 13 823 0-7745 0-51 1-01 1-075 2-776 0-657

о 11-630 0-3993 X 1 0 -1 0-69 1-38 0-2162 10-83 0-635

8 15 025 0-5326 0-53 1 06 0-8038 3-018 0-568
(c) e = 0-75
5 6-8903 1-3974 0-73 0-97 1-025 0-978 0-441

6 8-124 1-2176 0-74 0-98 1-057 1-158 0-448

7 9-308 1-0653 0-75 1-00 1-035 1-296 0-438

8 10-467 0-9381 0-76 1-02 0-9971 1-417 0-424

T a b l e 2. Accurate values o f the frequencies o f trapped modes, and response coefficient

964

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 801

new zeros represent modes which are highly damped compared with those in
figure 6a. I f the search were carried across the negative imaginary axis onto the
second sheet o f the Riemaim surface, other zeros would presumably be found.
The two systems o f zeros in figures 6 a and 6 b appear somewhat distinct. This
is when the contrast in the depths Л., and h2is quite great: A1/A2 = -fa. Figures 6a
and 6b show similar results when the contrast is less: h jh ^ — J. Then there are
already very few trapped modes (cf. tables 1 and 2). The main sequence in
figure 6 a is somewhat further from the real axis, and in figure 6 b the zeros are

0 5 10 15 20

b’iGL'HE 6- T h e zeros o f Q[z) w h en hlfhi = J: (a ) the m a in sequence;

(6) the rem ainin g zeros.
F lu id M ech. 29
 965

802 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

closer. When the depths are quite comparable, = -j%, the zeros are as shown
in figures 7 a and 7 b. The curve marked a in figure 7 a is the same curve, though
on a different vertical scale, as the upper curve in figure 76, so that the two
systems o f solutions have now been brought together.
The ‘ second’ system o f zeros, namely those shown in figures 56, 6b and 76,
correspond to modes with a high rate o f damping. For this reason they are less
important in the context o f free oscillations, But their existence must be borne
in mind in the solution to the problem of forced motions, to be described in the
following section.

0 5 10

Fiquhe 7. The zeros o f Q(z] when h j h 2 = -jL; (a) the main sequence;
(6) the remaining zeros.
966

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 803

7. The excitation o f trapped modes on a circular sill

I t is interesting to enquire how modes o f oscillation such as those described in
the previous section might be excited b y various mechanisms. Am ong the
simplest o f such exciting mechanisms is an incident w ave propagated from infinity
through deep water. In the presence o f the sill we shall expect to find part o f the
incident wave converted to energy over the sill, and part scattered to infinity in
the horizontal plane.
Consider for a moment the situation that would be expected according to ray-
theory (figure 8). A plane wave approaches in deep water from the left. The ray-
paths are parallel until they meet the edge o f the sill, where they are refracted
both on crossing into the sill and on leaving it. There is a partial focusing o f the

FiQtnuE 8. The ray-paths for a plane w ave incident on a circular aill, when h j h ^ = -Jy.

wave energy. On the other hand the refracted rays over the sill all make an angle
with the normal which is less than the critical angle, defined in § 3. Hence th ey
pass closer to the centre o f the sill than any o f the rays corresponding to the
trapped modes. In other words the ray-paths o f the incident waves and o f the
trapped waves cannot coincide over the sill itself.
One might therefore suppose that it would he difficult for ал incident w ave to
excite any of the trapped modes o f oscillation. On the other hand the rate o f
decay o f the trapped modes is so small, that even a small input o f energy m ay be
sufficient to generate appreciable amplitudes. I t is clear that in order to calculate
the amplitude o f the response we need a more exact analysis than ray-theory can
provide.
L et us then consider the response o f the system described in § 6 caused by a
disturbance which has the form o f a plane wave at infinity. Thus suppose that at
large distances from the origin £ ~ £„ where

£<c = exp[i(fc2a;-<rt)] (7.1)

and a is real. This by itself satisfies the required differential equation (2.10) in the
deeper water h = and so represents a free wave. However, it does not satisfy
61-2
 967

804 М . 8. Longuet-Higgins

the boundary condition (2.6) at r = a. L et us expand in a harmonic series in в.

B y a well-known identity, (7.1) can be written
CO

£ « ,= E t V n(fc2r)e rp [i(m 0 -< r/ )]. (7.2)

П = — CD

So in place o f the free mode (6.1) we now assume

g= E e i p [ ^ - t r t ) ] x H n^ f) (7.3)
»— « v-Bп Н п(кг г ) + 1 пип{к2г ) (r > a ). J

The terms in .4Я represent motions excited over the circular sill, and the terms in
B n represent energy scattered to infinity. On applying the boundary conditions
at r = a, and equating coefficients o f exp \i(n6 - cri)] we find

A n Jn(k ia ) = В п Н п(к2а ) + М п(к2а), )

A n K K J 'n{ K a) = в п К К H n( \ a) + k2h2inJ'n(k2a ), J

and so instead o f the homogeneous equations (6.15) we have to solve the non-
homogeneous system

(J n(z ) H n( e z )\ (A T\ ( J n(ez)\
(7.5)
W M H 'n( e z ) j \ B j ~ X \ j ^ e z )J '

Since the frequency <r is real by hypothesis, so also is z, and the matrix o f the
system cannot vanish. The system (7.5) therefore possesses a unique solution.
Making use o f the identity

Jn(ez) H '( e z ) - J ^ e z ) Д , ( в ) = £ (7-6)

7TGZ

- fin d ^ = S ) <™>

and (7 g )

where F ( z ) and G (z ) are given by (6.16) and (6.17). These values o f A n and B n,
when subsrtituted into (7.3), give the formal solution o f the problem.
The modulus o f A n, which represents the amplitude o f the waves over the sill
in response to an incident w ave of unit amplitude, is shown as a function o f the
non-dimensional frequency z = асгЦдк^Ъ in figure 9, for the typical case kj/Aa =
(T o avoid confusion, only the even harmonics n = 0 , 2 , 4, 6 are shown.) As can be
seen, the response is markedly peaked at values o f z close to the zeros o f 0 (z )
determined in the previous section, especially those zeros which lie close to the
real axis and correspond to trapped modes.
W hen z lies close to one such value z0 say, we have approximately

G {z ) 4= (z —z0)<?'(z0) (7.9)

and so i f —Tj denotes the imaginary part o f z0 (z0 = £0—it?) we have

1 Л | ф е т i i H A W w l • ( 7 ,1 0 )
968

O n the trapping o f wave energy round, islands

1 I I I I------------ 1------------1------------г

^ G rap h s o f Л , |, fo r h jh , = Jy a n d n . 0, 2, 4 a n d 0, g iv in g the
a m plitu d e o f the response as a function o f the freq u e n c y o f the incident w a v e.
 969

80® M . S. Longuet-Higgins

The peak value o f the response is thus achieved when £ = £0, and

2
(7.11)
em )\ G '{z0) y

The width o f the response curve, that is to say the difference in £ between points
at h alf the peak height, is 2 ^3 rj.

F ig u r e 10. Graphs o f |B„| for and n — 0, 2, 4 and 6, giving the amplitude o f

the scattered waves as a function of the frequency o f the incident wave.

In terms o f the constants

( 7 .1 2 )
D n k ~ n G '(z ky D
which occur in § 8, we have
(7.13)

Both D and D j (m )) are given in table 2. From these it can be seen how large are
the amplitudes that can be built up inside the sill by the trapping effect; also
how narrow are the response curves. I t w ill be recalled that the ordinary trans­
mission coefficient for a long w ave approaching a straight step normally (that is
to say the ratio o f the transmitted wave amplitude to theincident wave amplitude)
ia 2/(1 + e ) (see Lamb 1932; Bartholomeusz 1958). In the present instance (e = J)
this ratio equals 1-6.
The amplitude o f each wave in the series (7.3) is also proportional to •/„(A1r),
that is to say to Jn(r ja .z ) where z - £ - i i j is the quantity given in table 2. N ow
970

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 807

the maximum value o f Jn( i ) occurs in the neighbourhood o f the turning-point

£ = n and is given approximately by

max «/„(£) = 0-67бта“ 4 (7.14)

(see the appendix). This weak dependence on n does not affect the order o f
magnitude of the results derived from table 2. Outside the neighbourhood o f the
critical region diminishes like n~i.
Consider now the scattering coefficient jJS„]. The behaviour o f |Bn| when
Aj/A2 = -fa and n = 4 is shown in figure 10. In contrast to it is possible for
|J3n|to vanish identically at certain frequencies. The amplitude o f the scattered
w ave is then zero. A n analogous effect occurs in the scattering o f electrons b y
rare gas atoms, where it is known as the Ramsauer-Townsend effect (see Schiff
1949, §109).
The phenomena described in the present section are also very similar to the
scattering o f underwater sound b y a gas bubble. W hen the frequency o f the
incident sound w ave lies close to the fundamental resonant frequency o f the
bubble, the amplitude o f the induced oscillation may be greatly magnified.
However, in contrast to the previous examples, viscosity also plays an im portant
part, resulting in large coefficients o f absorption (Albers I960). The effect o f
viscous damping in our present problem will be considered in § 11.

8. The response o f a circular sill to a travelling pulse

Whereas the problem treated in §7 was analogous to the excitation o f an
acoustical resonator or a bell by a sound o f constant pitch, it may be interesting
also to investigate the response o f the circular sill to a travelling pulse. This
corresponds to striking the bell with a shock wave.
A straight line-pulse travelling in the г -direction (в — 0) in water o f depth h2
m ay be represented by
C.«(l/®»)*(*/e*-*). (8.1)
where c2 = [g h ^ i, cr2 = c j a (8.2)

and S(t) denotes the Dirac delta-function. The latter may be represented b y the
improper integral

m = (8.3)

where С denotes the contour running from —oo to со just above the real axis,
as in figure 11. The response o f the system to such a pulse can be written down
immediately from the solution o f the previous section. W e shall consider only the
disturbance over the sill (r < a). This is given by

E P n (r , t )e ™ , (8.4)
Л — — CO

where Pn M ) = 2 ~ T j oA n JniK r) e x p ( - icrt) da (8.5)

 971

808 M . iS. Longuet-Higgins

and A n is given by (7.7). Thus, in the notation o f § 7, we have

P ,(r , t) = ex P ( “ i d ) d z> (8 .6 )

where { = artjz = t {g h ^ ja (8.7)

с с
_ -
U l i l 0 U e e B e 0 ° ° 0 в 0 в о й — О-

в о

с с
о о

в 0
^-plane

F i g u r e 11. A sketch o f th e contours G and C ' <md o f the zeros o f 0(z)

when Aj/Л, = J y and n = 6.

and z denotes ааЦдк^Ъ as before.

The integrand is regular everywhere except for poles at the zeros o f G (z ), and
for a logarithmic irregularity at the origin. A ll the poles lie below the real axis,
and the plane is usually cut from 0 to —oo. When t < — 1 the integrand can be
deformed into an infinite semicircle in the upper half-plane and vanishes identi­
cally. When i > 1 the integrand can be deformed into an infinite semicircle in the
lower half-plane, minus 2m times the residues at the poles o f the integrand, plus
an integral along the path C ' running up the negative real axis on the second sheet
o f the Riemann surface and down the imaginary axis on the first sheet, as in
figure 11. Thus we have

P n(r , t ) = 2 D nk Jn(rjazk) exp ( - izkt ) + R n, (8.8)

к
2i n
where D nk = (8.9)

and Rn= j^ exp ( - И г)dz. (8.10)

The summation with respect to к extends over all the zeros zk of G (z ). Thus
equation (8.8) expresses the response to the impulse as the sum of a number o f
free waves of amplitude
D = \ D nk\ (8.11)
972

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 809

each decaying exponentially in time (since S (z k) < 0) plus a remainder term R n

which represents a transient ‘ t a il’ .
The amplitudes D of the decaying modes are tabulated in table 2. f T o evaluate
R n asymptotically for large values o f i we note that near 2 = 0 we have

Q {z ) = P ± Q ,

„ г(1 + ег) _ en_1( l —e8) z 2n ( 8-12)

where iren+1 ’ ® ~ 22" - Ы !(т е - 1 )!.

and the positive or negative sign is to be taken according as z lies to the right or
left o f the imaginary axis. Thus

<?(z) P +P2

Since Jn(r la .z ) ~ (8.13)

it follows by W atson’s lemma that as i -> oo,

" я 2 J„ 2“w! P *6

4(Згг.)J___/ --e\3
e\ 3”
» ee(l
( l -—e2
e g)) /r\
/г\п 1
(та!)2(m— 1)! \ 2 j (l + e2)2^ ZSn+1‘ '
Thus dies away asymptotically like f-<3n+i>. For moderately large values o f t
this transient tail will be much less than the amplitudes o f the slowly decaying
trapped modes.

9. W ave trapping round islands o f more general shape

In the following section we shall consider whether the phenomenon o f w ave
trapping, which has been demonstrated for the circular sill, is displayed also when
the topography o f the sea floor is o f a more general kind,

(i) Circular island with sill

Suppose that a meridional section o f the island is as shown in figure 12, that is to
say a central island o f radius b surrounded b y a circular sill o f radius a and
depth hlt beyond which is deep water o f depth h2 > h1. W e have seen already that
in the absence of the central island it is possible to have waves trapped on the
shelf and that in such modes there is very little energy inside the inner critical
circle, o f radius я /fej where ky = o‘l(gh1) i. Hence i f b < njklt that is to say i f the
radius o f the island is less than the inner critical radius, its presence will have
little effect on that particular mode. In other words we may infer the existence o f
trapped modes o f oscillation in the presence o f the central island as well as in its
absence. For any radius b, provided it is less than a, the ray theory indicates that
such modes will exist, though when Ъ approaches a (that is to say i f the shelf is
relatively narrow) then for a trapped mode to exist n would have to be large.
t W h e n n > 0 the con tribution fro m term s P „ „ (r, t) duplicates th at fro m Pn(r, t) ao the
am plitudes m ust be m ultip lied b y 2.
 973

810 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

Although some o f the free modes might not be affected by the presence o f the
island, the latter will certainly affect the detailed generation o f these modes by
a travelling pulse as described in § 8, or by another such mechanism, for the
island would necessarily intersect the ray paths o f the incident waves.

W7/. 2b

V ////////7 % ^77777777
F ig t ir e 12. Croaa-aection o f a n islan d w ith a su rrou nd in g sill.

I t should also he pointed out that the presence o f the island may make possible
the existence o f other types o f trapped modes, namely those whose rays are
reflected both internally at the edge of the sill and at the shoreline.

(ii) Circular symmetry; the general case

N e x t let us suppose that the depth h is a more general function o f the radius r
(but still independent o f в ). Under what conditions may we expect trapped
oscillations? Consider first a ray trajectory at some point where the path is
locally transverse, that is to say the wave crests are parallel to the local radius
vector. Then for the ray to be refracted inwards it is clearly necessary that the
curvature o f the trajectory be greater than the curvature o f a circle with radius r.
This leads to the condition
1 8c 1
(9.1)
cfr > r‘

where с is the local speed o f propagation. Hence

(9.2)

or since in this case с = (g h )i we have

Ш > о (9.3)
dr w

In other words the depth must increase more rapidly than the square o f the
radius. This conclusion is also in agreement with the analysis o f §5. For i f hfr*
increases without limit then coefficient o f R in equation (6.4) or (6.6) must
ultimately become negative.
A zone in which equation (9.3) is satisfied is then capable o f refracting waves
back towards the centre. Such a zone may be called a ‘ hedge’ . Clearly any
discontinuity in depth, with the greater depth on the outside, is a limiting form
o f ‘ hedge (E very ‘ edge ’ is a ‘ hedge’ .) As we have seen, hedges are not entirely
inpenetrable, since generally there is a fringe o f radiation on the outside. Moreover,
hedges are effective only when the angle o f incidence exceeds a certain critioal
974

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 811

angle. Nevertheless, in the case o f circular symmetry a ray once refracted back
towards the centre b y a hedge must ultimately approach the hedge again at the
same angle. Hence the energy w ill be contained with only a small leak o f energy
to the outside.
The concept o f a hedge is evidently equivalent to that o f a potential barrier in
quantum mechanics. In this connexion Eckart (1951) has drawn attention to the
exact analogy between the ray-paths described b y waves propagated with
velocity (g h )i and the paths described b y a smooth particle sliding freely on the
reciprocal surface £ = — 1/A, provided that the object starts with the kinetic
energy that would be acquired in falling from the level £ = 0.

(iii) Effects o f asymmetry

In more general forms o f bottom topography a sufficient condition for trapping
o f wave energy appears to be the existence o f at least one continuous ray-path
surrounding the island. However, the curvature o f the ray-path must not be so
great that appreciable energy is lost at the sharp comers b y diffraction.
In the case o f slight departure from circular symmetry an interesting pheno­
menon appears in the form of a splitting o f the frequencies into slightly different
pairs. A simple analogue is the slightly asymmetrical bell, discussed by R ayleigh
(1945, chapter 10). Consider, for example, a standing-wave mode (in a bell with
perfect circular symmetry) which has an azimuthal wave-number n = 2. Th e
form o f the bell when oscillating in such a mode will be an ellipse o f small eccentri­
city, with nodal planes at, say, 0 = 0, tt and f n . There w ill exist a second and

similar standing mode with nodal planes relatively displaced b y Jw, that is to
say at в = \it, |n, f-я and The frequencies o f the two modes will be equal.
Suppose now that a small mass is added to the bell at the point 0 = 0 . This will
not affect the radial m otion f o f the bell in the first mode nor the elastic restoring
force. But, lying at an antinode o f the second mode, it will increase the inertia in
the second mode. Hence the frequencies o f the tw o modes will be split. In a
similar way, any slight asymmetry in the circular shape o f an island or sea mount
will result in alight differences in the inertia o f pairs o f modes whose nodal lines
are displaced relative to one another. Hence we expect the existence o f pairs o f
modes o f the same azimuthal wave-number n and radial wave-number m, but
o f slightly different frequencies.
The modes just described are stationary, that is to say they have fixed nodal
lines (where the radial displacement vanishes). Denote one such pair b y and
respectively. Suppose that these are o f equal energy. Consider now the motions
consisting o f the sum o f the two modes, in quadrature. That is to say let

£ * = & + <&. (9-4)

Since and represent standing waves it follows that £+ represents a progressive
wave travelling round the centre in the clockwise direction, say; and £_ represents
a wave travelling in the anticlockwise sense. But because the frequencies are
slightly different the phase difference between £+ and £_ will slowly change.

■f H o w e v e r, the tran sverse in ertia w ill b e affected.

 975

812 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

Hence £+ will eventually be converted to £_ and vice versa. In other words there
will be an exchange o f energy between the progressive modes; the effect o f
slightly asymmetry is to introduce a coupling between them.
W e may show that under certain circumstances the frequency splitting due to
a slight asymmetry will be o f second-order in the deformation o f the island.
Im agine a sill o f uniform depth, as in § 6, whose edge is given not by r = a but by

r = а ( 1 + 1]с о а р в ), (9.5)
where tj is a small quantity ятн! j> is an integer > 2_ Consider a mode which in the
case o f circular symmetry has an azimuthal wave-number n. Then, in the case o f
symmetry, the ray-paths will meet the edge o f the sill at points given by
r e ie = a exp \i(2nlcln +/?)], (9.6)
where ft is a constant and к is an integer running from 1 to та. In the asymmetrical
case, the inter-reactions o f the ray-path with the edge o f the sill will be given by
гей = a (l + ? i соарвк) exp (i&k), (9.7)
where the 6k are angles which differ, in general, from (Яттк/п + /?) by amounts o f
order 7). I t is easy to see that when n > 2 the difference in the total path length
caused b y replacing 6k b y (2Ttk[n+J3) is o f order r)2. Then, b y writing down the
expression for the total path-length and using the fact that
n
2 exp (2vplcijn) = n or 0 (9.8)
к- 1
according as p is or is not a multiple o f n, it can be shown that the total path-
length differs from the path-length in the case -r] = 0 b y an amount o f order i]2,
except when p is a multiple o f n.
W e infer that the frequency splitting due to asymmetry is o f the second-order
in the deformation i)2, except possibly when the azimuthal wave-number n of
the mode is a submultiple o f one o f the harmonics p involved in the asymmetry
o f the island.
This is easily verified by geometrical methods in the case when the island is of
elliptical shape (p = 2) and the mode considered has a wave-number n equal to 4.
A more precise calculation o f the frequency splitting due to asymmetry will
be given in another paper.

10. Effects o f the earth’s rotation

In this section we shall investigate briefly the effect on these long waves o f
coriolis forces due to the rotation o f the earth.
One effect o f the rotation is suggested by an investigation due to Reid (1958)
who calculated the effect o f coriolis forces on edge waves over a bottom o f
uniform gradient. H e found that in the northern hemisphere gravity waves
travelling with the shoreline to their left have their speed o f propagation increased
by the earth’s rotation, and those with the shoreline on their right have their
speed diminished. Hence, we may expect that waves travelling round a circular
island in the same direction as the earth’s rotation will have their speed increased
976

O n the trapping o f wave, energy round islands 813

(relative to the earth), and those travelling in the opposite direction w ill have
their speed diminished. Thus we expect the earth’s rotation to split the fre­
quencies o f pairs o f progressive modes (just as the assymmetry splits the fre­
quencies o f pairs o f standing modes),
T o pursue the present problem analytically, we note that the general equations
corresponding to (2.1) and (2.2) but with the coriolis forces included, are

8u . 8 „ |

( 10 . 1)
8v . a

where/denotes the coriolis parameter. The continuity equation (2.2) is the same
as before. Assuming that u, v and £ are proportional to we have from (10.1)
a
- i a u - f v + — (g£) = 0 ,
( 10 . 2 )

f u - i < r v + — (gQ = 0,
°У

whence -f o g ,( 1 , A Y
u = —
cr
o'2- / 2' icr W
(10.3)

<7*—/ * \icr 3x dy; ' '

and so on substituting in (2.2)

( У‘ + ^ £+^ ' 7 г- & 5 <* ' т а л 7 а (104)

where w denotes a unit vector in the z-direction. A t a discontinuity in the depth
the boundary conditions are that

discontinuous (Ю.5)

and that h u . n is continuous. From (10.3) this implies

HS_^ l ) i8COntinUOUS’ (1 ° ' 6 )

where n, s are measured normally and tangentially to the discontinuity in the

same right-handed sense as x, y. W e shall see that the additional term in (10.6) is
o f particular significance.
In the special case o f water which is o f locally uniform depth, (10.4) reduces to

Supposing that the period o f the oscillations is small compared to a pendulum

day, we shall have <rf>f. In the following we shall agree to take into account
quantities o f order //<r but to neglect those o f order (//o')2. I t is clear then that
 977

814 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

under these conditions (10' 7) reduces simply to the equation (2.10) for long waves
in the absence o f rotation. However, the boundary condition (10.6) introduces
a first-order difference.
Consider first a straight step or discontinuity in depth as in § 3, and let us assume
a solution in the form (3.4). The boundary conditions (10.5) and (10.6) now give
A = С and
h ilh B - m . ( f ! < r )A ] = h2[ - l ' 2- m ( f l o - ) ] C . (10.8)

Therefore altogether we find

£ = bx-D \H m v-<rt\\x \ К К + ( К ~ К ) ] ain 1г z (ж <0),

ь ‘ 1 ' 9 ц (l1h1e~t»x (х > 0 ).
(10.9)
The effect o f the additional term on the right o f (10.9) is to increase the phase <5o f
the waves just inside the edge o f the sill by an amount

у - hh ( in in)
( W + ( W { ’
This extra phase must then be accommodated over the sill. Similarly on inserting
the boundary condition м = 0 at a; = —a we find that an additional phase

У = (10.11)

must be accommodated at the other side o f the sill. Hence, i f the frequency o f the
waves were to remain unchanged the width o f the sill would have to be increased
b y an amount (Й' + <$")/Zj. The actual change in frequency will be the same as i f the
width o f the sill were decreased by this amount. N ow the effect o f decreasing the
width o f the sill (in the absence o f coriolis forces) will be to increase the frequency,
in general. Hence i f (S ' + S”) is positive the frequency must be increased.
N o w if m, f and a are all positive, that is to say i f the waves travel in the
positive ^-direction in the northern hemisphere, then from (10.10) and (10.11) we
see that and 8° are both positive. Hence, in the northern hemisphere, those
waves which progress along the shore with the shoreline to their left have their
frequency increased, and those which travel in the reverse sense have their
frequency diminished, in agreement with the result o f Reid (1958) for a uniformly
sloping bottom.
Consider now the effect o f rotation on the sill waves discussed in § 6. W e m ay
estimate the wave frequency by an equation analogous to (6.10). In fact we have
only to add to the right-hand side o f (6.10) the term

(hi -J h )m (f l < r ) ( 1 0 , 12 )
hK
where m = n ja = l1c o t u (10.13)

by (6.8). Hence we have as an approximate equation

tan [m(tanii —и ) — \ tt\ = V[(^*/A1){№ 2/Ai — l)c o t a« — 1}]

+ ( f l <T) (^2^ — 1) cotw. (10.14)
978

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 816

From figure 3 it is clear that when 0 < f j a 1 the effect o f the last term is to
increase the value o f и by an amount nearly proportional to f j a ; and therefore
to increase cr, b y equation (6.11). Hence the speed o f waves travelling in the anti­
clockwise direction is increased, and the speed o f waves travelling in the clockwise
direction is decreased, as was expected.
T o find the small difference Дcr in the frequency due to the Earth’ s rotation
we note that since cr, by (6.11), is proportional to sec-it we have

^ = tan utku. (10.15)

The corresponding increment Дм is found from the relation

^ Дм = ^ Am + (fjc r ) (Л,/A, - 1) c o t u, ( 10.16)

where F x and F t denote the functions on the left and right o f (6.10) and м is one
o f the T oots o f (6.10). From the last two equations we deduce that

Д (10.17)
d F jd u ^ d F J d u

On carrying out the differentiation we find, after some reduction,

Д(Г----------------f (1(U8)
J _ ( 7
7l ( y - S + l ) +
i - l \ y~ S f
where у = h^h^, s sec2M = (£/и)2. (10.19)
I t will be noted that as n -*■ oo leaving у and s constant, the ‘ beat frequency ’ Acr
is asymptotically proportional to f in .
The values o f Дcrjf corresponding to the frequencies already calculated in
table 1 are shown in table 3.

n ~
1
Л,/А, 1 2 3 4 6 6 7 8
'0 1263 0 0426 0-0252 0-0179 0-0139 0-0114 0-0096 0-0079
— 0-1200 0-0432 0-0248 00176 0 0136 0 0111 0-0094
— — 0 0832 0-0462 00264 0-0176 0-0136 0-0110
Л
— — — 00000 0-0506 00266 0-0180 0-0136
— — — — — 0-0549 0-0282 0-0186
. — — — — — — 0-0580 0-0302

i 0-1189 01176 0-0890 0-0685 0-0549 0-0457 0-0389

— — — 0-0400 0-0700 0-0630
X — — 0-0282 0-0797
lfl — — 00640 0-0789

T a b l e 3. Changes in th e frequencies o f trappec modes o f oscillation

due to the ro ta tio n o f the earth : values o f Д or//

I t is interesting to compare these results with those for a bell rotating about its
axis of symmetry. Bryan (1890) calculated the effect o f rotation on the normal
modes o f a cylindrical bell. He found that if Q. denotes the angular velocity o f the
 979

816 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

bell about its axis, then the nodal lines o f the oscillation follow the direction of
rotation but with a smaller angular velocity given by
n %— 1
n *+ T ’ (10.20)

where n is the azimuthal wave-number. Thus, relative to an observer in the

rotating frame (as on the rotating earth) the nodal lines tend to drift in the
opposite direction to the rotation, with angular velocity
-2 Q
ЙГРГ <10-21)
I f these standing oscillations are considered as the sum o f two progressive
oscillations, one travelling in the same sense as Q and the other in the opposite
sense, then it follows that the frequency o f the mode progressing in the same sense
as the basic rotation is slowed down (in the rotating frame o f reference) by an
amount equal to „ n

(10-22>
Thus in the case o f a rigid bell, the effect o f the coriolis forces on the phase
velocity is in the reverse sense, compared with the effect on edge waves. The
magnitude o f the frequency shift for large n is however similar. For since / is o f
order 2D, we see from (10.22) that the change in frequency due to the rotation is
again o f order//n.
Combining the results o f the present section with those o f § 9 we can now see
qualitatively what is the effect on free waves o f coriolis forces and o f slight
asymmetry present simultaneously. The coriolis forces induce a slight difference
in frequency between the modes progressing round the island in the clockwise
and in the anticlockwise sense, those in the anticlockwise sense travelling faster,
in the northern hemisphere. The asymmetry o f the island induces an exchange o f
energy between these two progressive modes.
Consider then a record o f the surface elevation as seen by a fixed observer. I f
there were no asymmetry, then in a given small frequency band he would see in
general the sum o f two waves o f slightly differing frequencies:
£ = А г cos [(<r 4- Acr) t + € j ] + A 2cos [(cr —Acr) <+ e2], (10.23)
where A v A t and 6„ earepresent the instantaneous amplitudes and phases o f the
waves travelling in the anticlockwise and clockwise senses. When A 1 and A t were
equal the record of £ would exhibit slow beats o f frequency Дет.
I f now the island is unsymmetrical there will he a slow exchange o f energy
between the two modes, so that A lt A 2 and e1, ea will themselves vary with a slow
frequency A'<r, say. Thus at one epoch the wave record may exhibit only waves o f
frequency (<7+ Acr) and at another epoch it may exhibit only waves o f frequency
(ar — Acr). If, however, A'er < Acr that is to say i f the effect o f asymmetry is only
slight compared with the effect o f rotation, then there will still be an epoch when
A 1 = A 2 and beats are observed. I f ДV is not small compared with До- the com­
bined motion is more complicated.
In the above discussion we have of course neglected the damping o f the waves,
which may be important in practice.
980

O n the trapping of wave energy round islands 817

11. Effects o f viscous damping

Since the amplitude of the trapped modes excited b y an incident w ave is
critically dependent on the loss o f energy to infinity, which may be very small,
it is important to consider the effect on the waves o f other energy losses, in
particular the loss due to viscous dissipation.
Suppose first that the flow is laminar. In shallow water, the principal loss o f
energy will take place in the boundary layer near the bottom. I f и й denotes the
horizontal velocity just outside the boundary layer (u acc e~Jiai) then it is easy to
show (cf. Lamb 1932) that the horizontal velocity within the layer is given b y

и = м0( 1 - е - “ ), (11.1)

where a = ( —icr/vji, &t(a) > 0, ( П - 2)

г is the vertical distance above the bottom and v denotes the kinematical viscosity.
The rate o f dissipation o f energy per unit horizontal area o f the bottom is given b y

^ - J X S ) ’ "2 (U -3>
and on substitution for и ajad taking mean values with respect to the time t w e find

$ = щ ^ Р K | (»cr)i - (П -4 )

On the other hand the mean kinetic energy in a vertical column o f unit section is

^ епЬу \p\K\h. (11.5)

The total mean energy В per unit area is twice this. Hence we have

В 1 (vjcr)i
( 11.6)
crE *]2 h

This quantity is proportional to the loss o f energy per unit cycle. I t is o f the same
order o f magnitude as the ratio o f the boundary-layer thickness (v/c)i to the
mean depth A.
The quantity (11.6) is to be compared with the ratio i jji in table 2. Only i f
(11.6) is small compared with can the viscous damping be neglected.
Consider for example waves o f period 6 minutes in water o f depth h ■» 100 m
(the assumed depth o f water over the sill). Then 0-017 sec-1, and since
v = 0-01 cm2/sec it follows that (v/tr)4/fc is of order 10-4. Inspection o f table 2
then shows that there m ay indeed be some trapped modes for which the viscous
damping, if laminar, is negligible.
If, on the other hand, the motion is turbulent, due to the roughness o f the
bottom or the magnitude o f the wave amplitude or to the presence o f other strong
currents, then the wave damping m ay well be increased by one or tw o orders o f
magnitude. Hence the existence o f trapped modes o f appreciable amplitude will
in practice depend somewhat on the circumstances.
62 Fluid Mech. 29
 981

818 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

12. The response to a broad-band spectrum.

In § 7 we calculated the response o f the waves over a circular sill to radiation o f
a particular frequency falling on it from infinity. However, the background
radiation in the ocean more probably has a continuous spectrum. L et us then
consider the response o f the waves on the sill in that case.
L et E J a ) denote the spectral density o f the waves in the deeper water, that is
to say, let the contribution to the mean square wave-height £2 from frequencies
in the range (tr, <r + d a ) be equal to E ^ a ) da. К we neglect for a moment the
viscous damping and the effects o f asymmetry and coriolis forces, then by § 7
the spectral density E (c r) o f waves over the sill is o f the same order as

Z E J t r )\ A n Jn\*. (12.1)

(The factor 2 arises from the presence o f two waves, one travelling round the
island in each direction.) This is the spectral density that would theoretically be
measured b y a very sharply-tuned filter. H we replace \A\ j by its approximate
value (7.13) and integrate over the resonant peak, assuming E x locally constant,
we obtain for the total energy in the band:

0*1^00 D J n
27T ( 12 .2 )
V €

where a 1 — (g h ^ ja . Supposing this energy were distributed over the whole

frequency range (0, 2(7), the mean spectral density would still be

D J„
(12.3)
fa
The quantities Z )/ e(^ )i are given in the last column o f table 2. Since these are all
o f order unity it is evident that even with a very broad-band filter the response
would still be prominent.
Even if the effective value o f т/ is increased by dissipation, (resulting in a
decrease in the ‘ Q ' o f the resonant system) the r.m.s. amplitude o f the resonant
response will be diminished only by a factor i]~i. Hence the existence o f a fairly
large energy dissipation will not necessarily be fatal to the detection o f the
trapped modes.

13. Discussion and conclusions

W e have seen how free modes o f oscillation over a circular sill are possible,
with only a very slow leakage of energy to infinity. The trapping o f the energy is
essentially due to the waves being reflected internally at the edge o f the sill, when
their angle o f incidence is greater than the critical angle. A necessary condition
for this trapping is that the outer critical circle shall be appreciably larger than
the circular sill.
The trapping effect is not limited to circular sills, or to islands o f circular shape.
A sufficient condition for trapping is that there shall be a closed ray-path com­
pletely surrounding the island. The presence o f an island in the middle o f the
 On the trapping of wave energy round islands

radinc I ' ^ ° 1 1 П0^ a®ec^ oscillations, if its radius is less than themner critical
radius (see table 2).
have also seen how very large can be the response of the water over a siU
о aves incident from outside. Even in the presence of viscous damping, th e
response o f the sill to a continuous noise background may still be quite detectable
visu ally. On the other hand the background of low-frequency radiation in th e
ocean is not yet well known, so that it is not possible to estimate E &{<?)■
A n additional source o f energy for trapped oscillations might be the action o f
h orizon tal wind-stresses, which are known to be more effective in shallow w a ter.
I t is also possible that surf-beats of period 2-5 Tnin may contribute some en erg y

a t the higher frequencies.

W e h ave seen that any departure from circular symmetry will produce a
cou pling between the energy of waves travelling round the island in opposite
senses. T h e rotation o f the earth will split the frequencies. The splitting is sm all;
the beat frequency due to rotation is of order (h1lh2) ( f i n ) where / is the coriolis
param eter.
F ro m table 2 it can be seen that when h jh t = f a a fair degree of trapping is
a ch ieved only i f the azimuthal wave-number n is greater than about 4. H ence i t
appears that the prominent oscillations at Macquarie Island, previously referred
to , w hich had a regular period of 6 min may represent trapped oscillations o f th is
kind. T h e circumference G of the island being 80 km and the mean depth of
w a te r o ver the shelf being about 100 m we expect the period of oscillations
p rom in en t at the shore to be given by
С 80 km 42
— — minutes.
n {g h ])l 32n m/sec n

W it h n equal to about 7 this gives a period of the same order as that observed.
O n the other hand table 3 indicates that in this case the splitting o f th e
f r e q u e n c i e s due to the rotation of the earth would be too small to account for th e
o b s e r v e d b e a t frequency o f 0-33 cycles per hour. Hence the observed beats are
m o re likely to be due to other causes. For example, since the ratio o f the len gth
o f th e island to its breadth is about 6:1, the asymmetry is probably im portant.
B e f o r e a n y firm conclusions are drawn regarding the nature o f the oscillatio n s
a t M a c q u a r ie Is la n d it is desirable to repeat the observations over a longer p e r io d
o f tim e a n d further, to make simultaneous observations at more than one p o in t
o n t h e ' c o a s t in order to observe the relative phase of the oscillations. S u c h
o b s e r v a tio n s are a t present being undertaken b y members of the U n iv e rsity o f

A d e la id e .
O ther desirable investigations include the accurate calculation of the frequency
pU tting due to non-circular symmetry, and possibly the construction o f a
* hysical model o f the island in which the local bathymetry could be m ore
a c c u r a t e ly rep resen ted.

I t is a pleasure to record my thanks to members of the Department o f M a th e ­

m a tic s a t the U niversity o f Adelaide for their hospitality from A u cu o * «■„
N o v e m b e r 1964, and particularly to Professor R .B . Potts, Professor J. R . M

62-2
 983

820 M . iS. Longuet-Higgins

Radok and Dr M. N. Brearley. A first draft o f this paper was prepared at

Adelaide. For assistance with the calculations in tables 1 and 2 and for several
useful suggestions incorporated in this paper I am indebted to Mr C. J. R. Garrett
o f Trin ity College, Cambridge.

Appendix. The maximum value o f |J„(£)|

In the neighbourhood o f the critical point £ = n it can be shown j- that as
«и. —v. m ^
/2Y
A i [ a W ( i —| / я ) ] , (A l)
*®~u)
where A i denotes the A iry function o f the first kind (Miller 1964). The maximum
value o f |Ai (x)| is achieved when x = — 1-019 and A i (a:) = 0-5357. So we have
asymptotically
max|Jn| ~ 0-6749я,-1 (A 2 )
achieved when | ~ n + 0-809?ii. (A 3 )

The actual and asymptotic values o f max \Jn\ are compared in table 4. From the
agreement between these values it appears that max |Jn\ decreases very nearly
as n~%, between n = 1 and n = 8.

n m a x |J„| O -0749n-i 1 (n + 0-809ni)

0 1-0000 00 0-000 0-000

1 0 5819 0-6749 1-841 1-809
2 0-4865 0-5357 3-054 3-019
3 0-4344 0-4679 4-201 4 167
4 0-3997 0-4252 5-318 5-284
5 0-3741 0-3947 6 416 6-383
6 0-3541 0-3714 7-501 7-470
7 0-3379 0-3528 8-578 8-548
8 0-3244 0-3374 9-647 9-618

T a b l e 4. valu es o f J n( f ) and asym p totic a p p ro x im a tion s fo r large n

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984

O n the trapping o f wave energy round islands 821

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Phil. Trans A 247, 328-368.
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R e id , R . O. 1958 E ffec t o f coriolis force on edge w a v e s (1) In v e s tig a tio n o f the n o rm a l
m odes. J . M ar. Res. 16, 109-144.
Кптггрг, L . I . 1949 Quantum Mechanics, 409 p p . L o n d o n : M c G r a w -H ill.
Sn o d g r a s s , F . E ., M ottk, W . H. & M il l e r , G. R. 1962 L o n g -p e rio d w aves over
C alifo rn ia ’s con tin en tal bo rd e rla n d . P a r t 1. B a c k g ro u n d spectra. J . Mar. Res. 20,
3-3 0.
St o k e s , G . G . 1846 R eport on recent researches in hydrodynamics. Br. A ss. Rept. 1846;
see also CoU. P ap. I , 167.
U h sell, F. 1961 T ra p p in g m odes in the th e o ry o f su rface w aves. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc,
47, 347-358.
U a s E ii, F. 1962a E d g e w a v e s on a sloping beach . Proc. Roy. Soc. A 214, 79-97.
U rsell, F. 19526 D isc re te and con tin uous sp ectra in th e th e o ry o f g ra v ity w a v es. P ro c .
S y m p . on G r a v it y W a v e s , U .S. N at. Bur. Standards, Circular 521, p p . 1 -5 .
W at s o n , G . N . 1922 A treatise on the theory o f Bessel functions, 804 p p . C a m b rid g e
U n iv e rs ity Press.

£2-3
 985

A R C H I W U M H Y D R O T E C H N I K t
Т ОМ XXIV 1977 ZESZYT 4

N a d b itk a

M I C H A E L S. L O N G U E T -H IG G IN S

A n g lia

On the nonlinear transformation of wave trains in shallow water

1. Introduction

In recent laboratory experiments on the generation o f gravity waves in shallow water,

B o c za r -K a r a k i e w i c z [1, 2, 3, 4], B e n d y k o w s k a [5] and others have shown that waves

produced by a sinusoidally varying wavemaker undergo an apparent change o f form in

the course of their propagation. Over a horizontal distance of the order of several wave­
lengths, the profile o f the wave is transformed from a roughly sinusoidal form to a form
where the wavecrests are relatively steep and “ cnoidal” . Further on, the waves change
back again to a sinusoidal form. The process repeats itself periodically in space, the length
L o f one cycle being called the “ transformation distance” .
This remarkable behaviour can be ascribed, first, to the fact that a shallow-water
wave is essentially nonlinear, and a wave of permanent type must contain not only com­
ponents o f the fundamental frequency, but also harmonies of all orders, in a certain ratio.
O f these, the wavemaker supplies only the fundamental, and consequently the initial
wave is not o f permanent form; see M a d s e n [6].
That the process of transformation is in general nonlinear has been demonstrated by
B o c z a r - K a r a k i e w i c z [2, 4] who has found by Fourier analysis that the amplitude o f
even the fundamental component can undergo quite deep modulation with distance along
the tank. However the change in wave profile can also be partly accounted for by a change
in the phase o f the second harmonic relative to the first harmonic (see [2], Figures 1 and 2),
and on the basis of numerical calculations it has been suggested by M a d s e n , Мы and
S a v a g e [7] that the process can be quite well considered as the weak interaction between
two cnoidal waves of frequencies о and 2tr respectively, where a is the frequency of the
wavemaker. For an analogous case see also B r y a n t [8].
The calculations in reference [7] are quite lengthy, being based on the full equations
o f Korteweg and de Vries. The purpose o f this note is to show that the above concept
o f two free but weakly interacting waves leads to some surprisingly simple formulae for

M. S. L o n g u e t - H ig g in s Department o f Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Silver

Street, Cambridge, England, and Institute o f Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Surrey.
986

446 M. S. LONGUET-HIGGINS

the transformation distance L in terms of the mean depth ft, the local wavelength l= 2 n /k
and the height H o f the fundamental wave. In fact the equations derived for L/A and L /l
are equations (3.14) and (5.1) respectively, where S is the Stokes number

Hlh

S=( W

and a. is the function o f S shown in Figure 2, which is very closely approximated by simple
asymptotes.
These formulae will be compared with the available observations of L/A and L /l and
it may be concluded that over a certain range o f the parameters they are indeed o f some
practical use.

2. Analysis

Figure 1 shows schematically a channel in which waves are being generated at one
end by a sinusoidal wavemaker and are absorbed at the far end by a sloping beach. We
denote by A the mean depth o f water (assumed uniform), a the radian frequency o f the
wavemaker, I and к = 2it// the wavelength and wavenumber of the fundamental wave, and
L the repetition distance (L t in the notation of Boczar-Karakiewicz [1 - 4]). We also denote
by primed symbols a', I', k '= 2 % jl' the frequency, wavelength and wavenumber o f the
free second harmonic. Thus a '= 2a and the corresponding phase speeds c, c' are given by

c = cг/fc, c'=ff'/fc'=2a/k'. (2.1)

The radian frequency a is assumed constant. Generally с, к and c', k' are not quite
independent of the horizontal position, but as a first approximation we shall assume that
they differ negligibly from their horizontal-mean values. On this basis we may calculate
the repetition distance L as follows.

Fig. 1. Definition sketch o f wave tank and transformation in shallow water

Assume that where the wave crests are most “ peaked” the free second harmonic is
exactly in-phase with the fundamental, and where the crests are most rounded the second
harmonic is exactly in anti-phase (at the crest of the first harmonic). Over one complete
repetition distance L the second harmonic has shifted relative to the first harmonic by
exactly one wavelength I ' o f the second harmonic. In other words in the same time that
the phase o f the first harmonic has progressed through a horizontal distance L , the first
harmonic has progressed relative to the second harmonic by a distance I'. These distances
are in proportion to the phase velocity с and the relative phase velocity ( c ~ c '). Hence
 987

_________________________ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS 447

I' c -c ’ . c' , 2a/к' 2к

= ------= i ------ = 1------ L _ = i — (2.2)
L с с а/к к

We shall now specialise this result to waves in shallow water, when kh<&1. Suppose
first that the amplitudes 1/2H, 1/2H ' o f the first and second harmonics are both small
so that
H/fc<fcft)2 (2.3)
(with a similar relation for H ’). Then the dispersion relation is simply Stokes’s (1847)
equation
a 2= g k tanhfcft

which in dimensionless form may be written

kh tanbkh = o 2hlg = co (2.4)

say. In the experiments of Boczar-Karakiewicz [I - 4] and Bendykowska [5] a> is o f order

0.1 or less, so that (k h )2 is o f this order also. Then using the expansion

tanhk = k h ~ i (k h ) 4 0 ( k h )5
we may write equation (2.4) as

(k h )2[ l —J (k h )2 + . . . ]= (2.5)
and so with neglect o f со2,
(k h )2= ( o ( l + i w ) . (2 .6)
For the free second harmonic, a is replaced by 2a and so <u is replaced by 4u>. Hence

(fc'/t)2—4co(l-t-|a>). (2.7)

From the last two equations we have

4 (k h )2 4cu(l+}<o)
------ - = --------- — = 1-со (2.8)
( k'h ) 4<m(1 + 3(d)

to the same order o f approximation. Taking square roots, we get

(2.9)
k' 2
and so from (2.2)
I' 1
— *—
■— CO. (2.10)
L 2

But to lowest order c z tc '^ ^ fg h and so 1^21'. Hence we find

l/ L ± a > = (k h ? (2-11)
and so

L//»=-L(//A)3. (2.12)
4tc

The cubic term shows how very critically the repetition distance L depends on the initial
wavelength I, when the wave amplitude is small.
988

448 M. S. LONGUET-HIGGINS

3. The effect of finite amplitude

Suppose now that H denotes the crest-to-trough height of the fundamental wave,
and that the restriction (2.3) on H jh is removed. The most important effect will be to mo­
dify the dispersion relation (2.4). Consider first the extreme case o f a very long wave in
which
(,kh)2« H / h . (3.1)

Such a wave will travel with the speed с o f a solitary wave, given according to the Ray-
leigh-Boussinesq theory by

c2= (a j k )2= g (h + H ) . (3.2)

Hence
a s f f 2h /g = (k h )2( l + H / h ) . (3.3)

This is to be compared with equation (2.5), for the case when the inequality (3.1) is
reversed.
Now in the intermediate case when H [h and (k h )2 are o f the same order of magnitude,
but still small, it can be shown from cnoidal wave theory (see Section 4) that

co=(k/i)2[l-Kkfi)2+aH//i] (3-4)
where a is a quantity satisfying
0<a<l (3.5)

(see Figure 2). In fact tr is a function o f the Stokes number1.

H jh H ,,
S = — —r = —=-* > ( 3-6)
(k h )2 k2h3

as will be shown in Section 4.

Consider the consequence of equation (3.4). Solving for (kh)2 as before we obtain to
the same order
(/cft)2= « (l+ jc i)- a H / f c ). (3.7)

Now for the free second harmonic we have already seen that in the limit of infinitesimal
waves (S<Sl) the propagation is linear and there is no interaction. In the opposite case
o f very long waves ( S ^ l ) we know that solitons pass through one another with only a
finite change o f phase, so the interaction is small in this case also. Assuming that the in­
teraction is negligible in general we have corresponding to equation (3.7)

(fc'/i)2= 4 ff l(l+ !« - a 'H 7 / i) (3.8)

where И ' is the crest-to-trough height o f the free second harmonic and

a '= a (S '), S '= H 'j k '2h3. (3.9)

1 The significance o f this dimensionless combination was first pointed out by Stokes (1847).
 989

_________________________ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS________ 449

From equations (3.8) and (3.9) we have, to the same order o f approximation

4 (k h )2
( W = 1- с° - (аД/А- “ 'н '/й) -
So writing for short
P = a H l h - a ‘H '/h (3.10)
we have
2k 1
¥ -1 _т („ + л .

Hence as before
1
(3.11)
I a > + p '(k h )2+ p
and finally
l _ m 3
(3-12)
h 4к 2 + Р ( Щ ) 2 '

The coefficient /? in (3.11) and (3.12) represents the effects o f finite amplitude. When
fil(kh)2 is small, then these equations reduce to (2.11) and (2.12) respectively.
We find usually that ot'S'<&aS, that is to say the influence of finite amplitude on the
speed of the second harmonic itself is negligible. In that case we have simply

/!=а(Я/А) (3.13)
and equation (3.12) reduces to

£ =J W L _ . (3.14)
h 4n2( l +O.S)

4. The evalation of a (S)

To determine the value of a in equation (3.4) we make use o f cnoidal wave theory [10]
which is valid under the general conditions that

H//t~(fe/i)2« : 1. (4.1)

On this theory, an exact expression for the phase velocity is given by

where h is the undisturbed depth, E and F are the complete elliptic integrals defined by
,/2
£ ( « ) = f ( l - к 2 sin3 <p'yd<p
0 (4.3)
x/2
F (k )= J (1 +jc2 sin2 ф) i d<p
о
990

450 M. S. LONGUET-HIGGINS

and к is related to the mean depth A, the crest-to-trough height H and the wavelength

K F ( K ) = j l 6 l F - (4 > 4 )

Equation (4.2) is equivalent to (3.5) provided that we take

Since Л = 2л// this can be written

4n2h3 1 ,
a = J F h + i? ^ 2 ~ K ) - 3 £ (K)/F W }

and on using (4.4) this is expressed as a function o f к only:

c t = ^ [ j y F (,c)J + { ( 2 - k 2) - 3 £ ( K)/F(K) } J . (4.5)

Equation (4.4) shows that there is a unique relation between the parameter к and the
Stokes number S defined by (3.6), namely

so that a is also a function o f 5.

Fig. 2. Graph o f the function a (.S )' (solid curve). Broken curves a* and a** represent the two asymp­
totes, given by equations (4.7) and (4.9) respectively
 991

ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS 451

Some values of a and S at representative values o f к are given in Table I, and a is

shown as a function o f S in Figure 2. It is clear that as S increases from 0 to ao so a inc­
reases monotonically from 0 to 1.
(For Table 1, the values of E ( k) and F ( k) were taken from Table 17.1 of reference [11]).
For small values o f к (sinusoidal waves) the series expansions

yield
3 2 . 3 4 249 6 ,
a — 3Jk + 64к + в192к + ...

and
3S=K2+ iK 4+ i i K4 . . . ,
hence
(4-7)

Clearly as к -* 0, so a and S both tend to zero together. According to (4.7) the principal
correction to w, from equations (3.4) and (3.6), is

a(W i)2H/h = £ (H / h )2 (4.8)

which is proportional to the square o f the wave amplitude, in accordance with Stokes’s
expansion. For small values o f S the first two terms in (4.7) give a very accurate represen­
tation o f a, as shown by the broken curve on the left o f Figure 3. Even when S = 1 the
error is less than 0.015.
At the opposite extreme, when k ->1, the asymptotic expansions

£ (К) ~ 1 - 4 (Л - ± )К'2 + А (л - 1 | )К'Ч . . .

F ( k ) ~ A + Л ( Л - 1 К 2 + £ ( Л - ^ ) » с ' 4+ ...
where
»e'2= l —к1 , A = 1 d (4/k')
yield
2
35-----in

and hence

я ~ 1 — i ( 3 S ) - i + (3 S )-1. (4.9)
я
As S-ю о we have a-+l, so that the correction to u> now depends linearly on the wave
amplitude. Though a approaches its limit rather slowly, nevertheless the asymptotic
expression (4.9) yields a remarkably close approximation to a. over the range l< S < o o
(see Figure 2).
Thus we have two simple expressions for or, namely (4.7) and (4.9) which are valid,
for most practical purposes, over the range 0 < S ^ 1 and 1<S<<x> respectively.
992

452 M. S. LONGUET-HIGGINS

5. Comparison with observation

Since a is given as a function o f S in Figure 2, we may use equation (3.14) to construct

curves o f L jl as a function o f l/h, at constant values of Hjh. These are shown in Figure 3.

Fig, 3. Ratio o f the transformation distance L to the mean depth h, as a function o f l/h, at different
wave steepnesses Hjh. Plotted points О represent data points from Boczar-Karakiewicz (1, 2, 4),
at 0.4 < H jh < 0.5. The plot П , from Madsen, M ei and Savage (7) corresponds to H / h = 0 .5

The experimental points shown, in Figure 3 of Boczar-Karakiewicz [2] (see also Figure
2 o f ref. [3] and Figure 6 o f ref. [4]) mainly represent horizontally-averaged values from
Table 1 o f ref. [1]. The individual measurements o f L were not given. However Dr. Boczar-
Karakiewicz has kindly supplied the original data, which are shown below in Table 2.
The first eight entries in Table 2, correspond to waves o f various heights at a fixed
ratio //A= 10.9. The results indicate that the measured value o f L/A depends only slightly
on H/h, as would be expected from Figure 2. For the next two entries in Table 2, the va­
riation of L/h with H[h is also roughly as expected. The last four entries in Table 2 cor­
respond to variable l/h at four nearly equal values o f H/h, lying between 0.4 and 0.5. These
are plotted in Figure 3. The trend o f L/A as a function o f //A is verified.
One of the plotted points in Figure 3 represents the value computed numerically by
M ad sen , M ei and Sa v a g e [7] in the case //A = 16.0, Я/А=0.5. This point does indeed lie
rather close to the curve corresponding to Д/А=0.5.
 993

ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS 453

T a b le 1

Calculated values o f a. (equation 4.5), a* (4.7) and a ** (4.9)

K1 5 a a* K1 a a* a**
.00 .0000 .0000 .0000 .90 0.808 .2063 .2012
.10 .0351 .0099 .0099 .91 0.849 .2148 .2089
.20 .0744 .0209 .0209 .92 0.895 .2244 .2163
.30 .1190 .0333 .0333 .93 0.948 .2350 .2245
.40 .1707 .0478 0.478 .94 1.010 .2469 .2331 .2328
.50 .2322 .0647 .0647 .95 1.086 .2608 .2421 .2488
.60 .3081 .0853 .0852 .96 1.180 .2774 .2674
.70 .4073 .1114 .1112 .97 1.305 .2982 .2902
.80 .5506 .1475 .1466 .98 1.489 .3258 .3202
.90 .8081 .2063 .2012 .99 1.827 .3696 .3667
s in "1 к к7 5 a a** 5 e**
95° .99240 1.9683 .3857 .3834 5.0 .5735
96° .99513 2.2080 .4105 .4089 10.0 .6846
97“ .99726 2.5360 .4399 .4390 20.0 .7701
98° .99878 3.0350 .4773 .4769 50.0 .8507
99° .99970 3.9783 .5318 .5316 100.0 .8931

T a b le 2

Comparison of Ljh as given by equation (3.14) and as measured by Boczar-Karakiewicz

h T Llh
[cm] [sec] W M/h 5 a
m eas.
tbeor.
30 1.90 10.9 .084 .25 .07 32 26
.198 .60 .16 30 24
.223 .67 .17 29 22
.287 .86 .22 28 24
.293 .88 .22 27 23
.300 .90 .23 27 22
.367 1.10 .26 26 24
.440 1.32 .30 23 21
20 2.90 20.3 .180 1.88 .37 125 110
.235 2.45 .43 103 104
30 1.90 10.9 .493 1.48 .32 22 24
30 2.25 12.9 .413 1.74 .35 34 36
30 2.75 15.7 .433 2.70 .45 44 51
20 2.75 19.3 .450 4.25 .54 55 70

A s another form o f presentation we have plotted in Figure 4 the values o f

(//A)2 ,,
l /i = ' (5-1)
4it (1 + a S )

as a function o f S, at fixed values o f ljh and Hjh. I t can be seen that L jl decreases as S
increases, at constant ratio o f wavelength to depth. A ls o L j l increases as 5 increases, at
constant height-to-depth ratio within the range shown, though at very large values o f
S the trend is reversed.
994

454 M. S. LONQUET-HIGGrNS

!
I
/ 4
- I

' 4 1

$ 1

У х N

\ ©
У

\ _

- _____
At
------

- / /

\ L

, / / / ,
/ ■
¥

Fig. 4. The ratio L jl as a function o f the Stokes number S, for fixed values o f l/h and H jh. The
plotted points are from Bendykowska (5); Л О exp. values acc. to data given in [5]; @ corrected
exp. value for //A= 15, #/A = 0.31

F o r com parison w e have plotted in Figure 4 the data points fro m Figure 3 o f Bendy­
kow ska [5]. T h e circles correspond to observations at constant w ave period l/h= 12.0.
These points have the same trend as the curves fo r //A= 10.0 and 12.5 respectively. Th e
triangular plots correspond to observations at H/h=0.4. A g a in the trend o f the observa­
tions is in the same sense as predicted.
T h e corresponding values o f L/I as measured b y Bendykow ska [5] are shown in T ab le
3, com pared with the approxim ate expression (3.14). It can be seen that the agreem ent
is reasonably g o o d 1.

T a b le 3

Comparison o f L/h as given by equation (3.14) and as measured by Bendykowska (5)

T [sec] t [cm] Ijh Hjh £ a LIh

theor. meas.
1.87 298 10.0 .363 0.92 .23 21 20
2.23 363 12.1 .134 0.49 .13 42 43
2.23 363 12.1 .276 1.01 .24 36 36
2.23 363 12.1 .410 1.32 .33 30 32
2.73 450 15.0 .310 1.77 .37 52 57

1 The last entry under H jh in Table 3 has been corrected by D r Benedykowska to the value 0.310.
 995

ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS 455

6. Discussion and conclusions

Throughout the analysis of Sections 2 and 3 we have consistently neglected quantities

such as (kh)2 and со, which are of order 10“ 1 or less. Other approximations include the
neglect o f the effect of finite amplitude o f the fundamental wave on the mean speed of
the second harmonic; also, in equation (3.1), though not in (3.9), the neglect o f the self­
interaction o f the second harmonic. In the observations themselves the wavelength I was a
derived quantity, being calculated from the wave period (see [1] or [5]). It is consistent
with our approximation to take simply l= T (g h )* in equation (3.14).
From these reasons the agreement between theory and observation is perhaps even
better than might have been expected, and the formula (3.14) may owe its success partly
to the fortunate cancellation o f errors. This need not however detract from its practical
Utility.
The phenomenon o f wave transformation is o f further interest for at least two further
reasons. First, the propagation o f long waves over any sharp bottom feature or sudden
change in depth is known [7] to produce unsteadiness in the wave form, associated with a
free second harmonic. Secondly, the transformation o f the wave form is associated with
changes in the transport of sediment and sand. This can produce sand bars having the
same lateral spacing as the transformation distance, (see ref. [4]). This interesting and im­
portant effect will be the subject of a further investigation.
A ckn ow led gem en ts. I am indebted to Dr. P. Y/ilde, Director o f the Institute o f
Hydroengineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and to the British Council, for a
most pleasant and interesting visit to Gdansk during November and December 1976,
and to members o f the Institute’s staff, particularly Dr. B. Boczar-Karakiewicz, Dr. G.
Bendykowska and Dr. S. Massel for stimulating discussions on this and other topics.

Praca wptyntta do Redakcji da. 10 1П 1977 r.

REFEREN CES

1. B . B o c z a r K a r a k ie w ic z , Proces generacji i propagacji fali о duzej dlugoSci wzgl^dnej w swietle

badan laboratoryjnych. Arch. Hydrotech. 17, 571 - 590, 1970.
2. B. B o c z a r - K a r a k i e w i c z , Transformation o f wave profile in shallow water. Fourier analysis.
Arch. Hydrotech. 19, 197 - 210, 1972.
3. B. B o c z a r - K a r a k i e w i c z , A
model o f wave-profile transformation in shallow water o f constant
depth. Rozpr. Hydrotech., Inst. Budownictwa Wodnego, Gdansk 32, 5 ! - 57, 1973.
4. B. B o c z a r - K a r a k i e w i c z , Struktura falowania wiatrowego w strefie pr2 yboju. Rozpr. Hydrotech.
Inst. Budownictwa Wodnego, Gdansk. 34, 2 - 75, 1975.
5. G. B e n d y k o w s k a , Quelques aspects de la transformation du profil de la houle en eau peu profonde.
Arch. Hydrotech. 22, 97 - 103, 1975.
6. O. S. M a d s e n , On the generation o f long waves. J. Geophys. Res. 76, 8672 - 8683.
7. O. S . M a d s e n , С. C. Mei, R. P. S a v a g e , The evolution o f time-peiiodic long waves o f finite am­
plitude. J. Fluid Mech. 44, 195 - 208, 1970.
8. P. J. B r y a n t , Periodic waves in shallow water. Report 27, Fluid Mech. Res. Inst., Univ. o f Essex
1972.
996

456 M. S. LONGUET-HIGGINS

9. G. G. Stokes , On the theory o f oscillatory waves. Trans. Cambridge Philos. Soc. 8, 441, 1847.
Reprinted in Mathematical and Physical Papers o f Sir G. G. Stokes, Vol. 1, pp. 197- 219, 1880.
See especially Section 11.
10. R. L. W i e g e l , Oceanographic Engineering. 532 pp. Prentice-HaU, Engclwood Cliffe, N . Y . 1964.
11. L. M . M jln e -T h o m s o n , Elliptic Integrals. Chapter 16 in Handbook o f Mathematical Functions,
ed. M. Abramowitz and A. Stegun. Dover Publications, N ew Y o rk 1965.

Nieliniowa transformacja fa] w warunkach jtfytkiej wody

S tr e s z c z e n ie

W badaniach laboratoryjnych nad generacja fal grawitacyjnych w warunkach malej gl?boko§ci

wody [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] wykazano, ze wywolywacz fali poruszajacy si? ruchem sinusoidalnym wywoluje
fale о wyraznie zmiennym ksztalcie profilu wzdluz drogi propagacji fali. W odlegloSciach rz?du kilku
dhigosci fali piofil fali transformuje i retransformuje siQ od ksztaltu sinusoidalnego do ksztaltu zbfizo-
nego do konoidy.
W pracy wyprowadzono wzory na obliczanie „odleglosci transformacji” L pizy zalozeniu, ze
transformacja ta jest wynikiem zmian fazy wolnej drugiej harmonicznej wzgl?dem pierwszej harmoni-
cznej, a caly proces mozna traktowac jako slabe wzajemne oddzialywanie dw6ch fal knoidalnych (ArA<K
<£l), о cz?stotliwo§ciach odpowiednio a i 2a, gdzie a jest cz?stotliwoSci$ wywolywacza fali. Maksymalne
wystromienie grzbietow fali (konoida) otrzymamy wi?c w momencie, gdy wolna druga harmoniczna
znajdzie si? dokladnie w fazie z falft podstawow^, a najbardziej zaokraglone (sinusoida) grzbiety wy-
st^pi^, gdy druga harmoniczna znajdzie si? odpowiednio dokladnie w antyfazie.
Odleglosci transformacji L wyznaczono w funkcji pr?dkosci fazowych С obu fal. K oizystaj^c
z r6wnan knoidalncj teorii falowania wyprowadzono proste zaleznosci mi?dzy odleglo&i^ transformacji,
a gl?boko4cU wody, dtagoSci^ i wysokoscift fali. W pracy analizowano dwa przypadki fal о malej
amplitudzie tj. Hjh<i{kkY (r6wn. 2.12) oraz fal о skoAczonej wysokoici tj. H lh ~ (k h )2 (r6wn. 3.14).
Wyniki obliczeri por6wnano w szerokim zakresie z wynikami badan laboratoryjnych i uzyskano
bardzo duzq zgodnosc. Zjawisko okresowych w przestrzeni transformacji profilu fali budzi duze za-
interesowanie przcde wszystkim z dw6ch wzgl?<56w:
— propagacja fal dhigich przez przeszkod? lub inne gwaltowne zmiany gl?bokosci powoduje niesta-
bilnoic profilu, zwi^zanq z pcwstawaniem wolnej drugiej harmonicznej,
— z transformacja profilu fali jest scisle zwigzany transport rumowiska i ksztattowanie si? form den-
nych (rew) w odlegloSciach odpowiadaj^cych odleglosci transformacji.

Нелинейная трансформация воли, в условиях мелкой воды

С од ер ж ан и е

В лабораторных исследованиях, относительно гравитационных волн в условиях малой глубины

воды [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] доказано, что проявитель волны, двигающийся синусоудальным движением
вызывает волны выразительно изменямой формы профиля вдоль дороги пропагации волны.
В расстояниях ряда нескольких длин волны, проявитель волны трансформируется и ретранслируется
от формы синусоидальной к форме приближённой к коноиду.
В статье выведено формулы на расчёт „расстояния трансформации” L с предпосылкой, что
эта трансформация является результатом изменений фазы свободной второй гармонической отно-
 997

ON THE NONLINEAR TRANSFORMATION OF WAVE TRAINS 457

ситепьно первой гармонической, а весь процесс можно трактовать как слабое взаимное воздействие
двух коноидных волн (кh « 1 ) , с соответственными частотами а и 2а, где а является частотой проя­
вителя волны. Максимальное поднятие крутости (выкручения) гребня волны (коноида) получим
в моменте, когда свободная вторая гармоническая найдётся точно в фазе с основной волной, а наи­
более округленные (синусоиды) гребни выступят, когда вторая гармоническая найдётся соответ­
ственно точво в антифазе.
Расстояния трансформации L обозначено в функции фазовых скоростей С обеих воля. П о ль­
зуясь уравнениями хоноидной теории волнения, выведено простые зависимости между расстояием
трансформации а глубиной воды и длиной и высотой волны. В статье анализировано два случая
волн с малой амплитудой т.е. H/h<z(khy (равп. 2.12) и воли с оконченной высотой т.е. H/h~(.kh)1
(равн. 3.14).
Результаты расчётов сравнево в широком пределе с результатами лабораторных исследований
и получено очень большое согласие (сходность). Явление — периодических в пространстве — транс­
формаций профиля, волны, вызывает большой интерес по поводу двух взглядов:
— пропагацйя длинных волн через препятствие или другие бурные изменения глубины вызывают
нестабильность профиля, связанную с возниканием свободной второй гармонической,
— с трансформацией профиля волны особенно тесно вяжется транспорт донных наносов и форми­
рование подводных песчаных валов, в расстояниях отвечающих расстоянию трансформация.
9 98

J . F lu id Mech. ( 1981), vol. 107, pp. 1-35

Printed in Great Britain

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples

By M I C H A E L S. L O N G U E T - H I G G I N S
D epartm en t o f A p p lied M athem atics and T h eoretical Physics, S ilver Street,
Cam bridge, and In stitu te o f O ceanographic Sciences, W o rm le y, Surrey

(R ec eiv e d 4 J u ly 1980)

Although the form and dimensions o f steep vortex ripples are well studied in relation
to the oscillating flow which generates them, nevertheless the accompanying fluid
motion is not yet understood quantitatively. In this paper we present a method o f
calculation based on the assumption that the sand-water interface is fixed and that
the effect o f sand in suspension is, to a first approximation, negligible.
The method employs a simple conformal transformation o f the fluid flow onto the
exterior of a polygon, and thence onto the interior o f a unit circle. The initial, irrota-
tional flow is represented by a logarithmic vortex at the centre o f the circle. Other
vortices within the fluid are each represented by a symmetric system of P vortices and
their images in the unit circle, P being the number o f sides o f the original polygon.
Typically P is equal to 6. However, P is not limited to integer values but may be any
rational number greater than 2 (see § 15).
T o proceed with the calculation it is assumed that separation o f the boundary layer
takes place at the sharp crests o f the ripples, and that the shed vorticity can be
represented by discrete vortices, with strengths given by Prandtl’s rule. (For a typical
time sequence see figures 7 and 8.) After a complete cycle, a vortex pair is formed,
which can escape upwards from the neighbourhood o f the boundary.
The total momentum per ripple wavelength and the horizontal force on the bottom
are expressible very simply in terms o f the shed vortices at any instant. The force
consists of two parts: an added-mass term which dissipates no energy, and a ‘ vortex
d rag’, which extracts energy from the oscillating flow.
The calculation is at first carried out with point vortices, in a virtually inviscid
theory. However, it is found appropriate to assume that each vortex has a solid core
whose radius expands with time like [e(t —£„)]*, where tn denotes the time o f birth, and
e is a small parameter analogous to a viscosity. The expansion o f the vortex tends to
reduce the total energy (which otherwise would increase without limit) at a rate
independent o f e. I f the cores o f two neighbouring vortices overlap they are assumed
to merge, by certain simple rules.
Calculation of the effective vortex drag in an oscillating flow yields drag coefficients
C D o f the order o f 10-1, in good agreement with the measurements o f Bagnold (1946)
and of Carstens, Nielson & Altinbilek (1969). The tendency for the highest drag
coefficients to occur when the ratio 2a / L of the total horizontal excursion o f the
particles to the ripple length is about l -б is confirmed. When l a j L — 4, the drag falls
to about half its value at ‘ resonance1.
 999

2 M . S . Longuet-Higgins

1. In tro d u ction
Regularly spaced ripples are a common feature o f sandy sea beds along many
coasts. Usually they are found just seawards of the swash zone, and their intimate
connexion with wave action and with the mechanisms o f sediment suspension and
transport by waves and nearshore currents has long been suspected.
The spacing and the form of sand ripples in relation to wave action have been the
subject o f many thorough investigations, for example by Bagnold (1940), Inman
(1957), Carstens et al. (1969), Mogridge & Kamphuis (1972) and Lofquist (1978). A
recent summary and discussion o f the literature has been given by Nielson (1979).
Some striking relationships appear. For example
(1) the ripple length (the spacing between adjacent crests) is generally about
two-thirds o f the horizontal excursion of the water particles, independently of the
frequency o f oscillation and hence of the Reynolds number;
(2) the ripple length is almost independent o f the sand-grain density;
(3) the mean drag coefficients are remarkably high, being of order 10-1, nearly two
orders o f magnitude greater than for steady flows over a rough bottom.
On the other hand, it seems that a quantitative understanding of the conditions
under which steep ripples are formed and maintained by oscillatory waves is still
lacking, due chiefly to difficulties in calculating the time-dependent motion o f the
fluid.
In a general way, it was recognized as early as Ayrton (1910) that the formation o f
steep sand ripples is connected with the existence of a system of vortices thrown off
at the crests o f the ripples, in alternate directions. During the forward ‘ stroke’ o f the
fluid motion, a vortex is formed in the lee of each ripple crest, which picks up sand
from the trough and from the lee slope o f the ripples, subsequently depositing it on the
ripple crests. Thus the ripples and vortices cooperate; at each stroke the vortices act
to repair the previous erosion o f the ripple crests, and a remarkably stable situation
persists. The process has been well described by Bagnold (1946, §4).
In the course o f this phenomenon, a considerable amount of the sediment may be
taken into suspension (particularly with small grain-sizes). This material can then be
transported in either direction according to the characteristics o f the waves or mean
current that is present (see Bijker, van Hijum & Vellinga 1976).
Attem pts to calculate the fluid flow were made by Kalkanis (1964) and by Kajiura
(1968), but these authors assumed an essentially flat solid boundary between sand and
water. More recently Sleath (1975) has carried out numerical calculations of the flow
over an undulating bed, assuming laminar flow conditions, appropriate to low
Reynolds numbers. While achieving some successes, this method is clearly not
applicable to conditions at high Reynolds numbers where the boundary layers are not
well resolved by the numerical technique. In Sleath (1975) the crests of the ripples are
assumed to be more rounded than the troughs. Though it is possible to reverse this
assumption, and make the model crests sharper, nevertheless they still cannot be
made as sharp as those o f ripples under formative wave action. In such circumstances
we expect separation of the boundary layer at a well-defined point, namely the sharp
crest itself.
The present paper attacks the problem o f the flow over ripples by a different method.
There are two new aspects to our technique. First, we make a simple transformation o f
1000

Oscillating flow over sleep sand ripples 3

a typical sequence o f a ripple-forms into the aides o f a regular polygon, as described

in §2 below. From there it is comparatively simple to map the domain o f the flow
(which corresponds to the exterior o f the polygon) onto the interior o f the unit circle
(see §3). The transformation is altogether similar to that used by the present author
(1973) to approximate the flow beneath a progressive gravity wave in deep water,
except that here it is not the interior of the polygon but the exterior which is mapped
onto the unit circle.
I f the flow were irrotational, this mapping would immediately give the velocity
field over the ripple (see § 4). The second main feature o f our method is that we assume
the actual flow field, in which the boundary layer separates at the ripple crests, to be
represented by a distribution o f point vorticea, with circulation given by Pran dtl’s
rule, as in §6. Each vortex is then represented in the transformed plane by a simple
circular vortex together with its image in the unit circle (see figure 6). The motion o f
the vortices and o f the corresponding velocity field may then be calculated by straight­
forward time-stepping.
Such a method o f computation by ‘ surface vo rticity’ has been used recently by
Clements (1973), Stansby (1977), Graham (1980) and others, to calculate the shedding
o f vortices from circular or sharp-edged cylinders in steady and oscillating flow. A
historical review is given by Clements & Maull (1975); see also Saffman & Baker (1979).
The method is practical so long as the requisite number o f vortex elements is not too
great. In the present application the number of vortices is brought within practical
bounds by some amalgamation into single vortices or, more interestingly, into vortex
pairs which can escape from the neighbourhood o f the boundary.
One advantage o f the present method is the very simple expression for the total
horizontal momentum, derived in §7 below, and for the resulting stress on the ripple
surface, derived in §8. These enable our computations to be readily compared with
laboratory observations by Bagnold (1946), Carstens et al. (1969) and Lofquiat (1980),
with excellent agreement.

2. T h e p o ly g o n tran sform ation

Consider a sequence of ripples, each o f length L , as in figure 1 (a), and let

z = * x + iy, (2-1)

where x and у are rectangular co-ordinates, the origin is at a crest A , the a; axis is
horizontal and the у axis vertically upwards.
Suppose first that the interior angle at the crest o f each ripple is (л —2w/ Р ) , where P
is an integer. To fix the ideas we may take P = 5, so that the crest angle is 108°. Then
by the simple transformation

£ = е - "“ , k P L = 2я, (2.2)

any P consecutive vertices o f the ripple are transformed into the vertices o f a regular
.P-gon (polygon with P sides) as shown in figure 1 (£>). The vertex 2 = 0 goes to the
point £ = 1, and points at infinite depth (y = — oo) go to the origin £ = 0 in figure 1 (b).
The transformation (2.2) being eonformal, angles are preserved locally, so that the
transformed boundary in figure 1(6) also has an interior angle ( n — 2 n / P ) at each
corner. This being the interior angle o f a regular P-gon it follows that the trans-
 1001

M . S. Longuet-Higgins

(*)

PiorrRE 1. A sequence o f ripple profiles (a) in the г plane and (6) transformed
into a polygon in the £ plane.

formed boundary touches the aides o f the P-gon at each vertex. Accordingly we ap­
proximate the transformed boundary by the aides o f the P-gon itself. The sand and the
water are then represented by the interior and the exterior o f the P-gon respectively.
The equation o f the boundary, in the £ plane, is given by
rcos (в — 6j) — С08(7Г/Р), (2.3)
where r and в are polar co-ordinates (see figure 2) and is one o f the P angles
2n ( j - \ ) / P , j 1 ,2 ,... P .

On transforming hack into the physical plane by

fc z = » * ln £ = iln r —в, (2.4)
we find for the equation o f the ripple surface in the г plane
£ (У - У о) = l n 9 e o i ( « —г 0), (2.5)
where xc and y a are constants, and |k(x — x0) | ^ тт/P . The ripple steepness, that is the
ratio o f its orest-to-trough height Л to the ripple length L , is given by
h In sec (л/Р)
(2 8 )
2n / P
Values o f this expression for some low values o f P are shown in table 1. For typical
profiles see figure 2.
1002

F io m tE 2. T y p ic a l sequences o f profiles g iv e n b y equation (2.5).

p Я /Р h/L К m
2 90“ 00 ■500000 00 00
6/2 72° •487 3 -639 696 ■848757 •727 596
3 60“ ■3310 ■730499 -484 595 •379120
7/2 51*° ■2632 ■791737 ■325267 ■238 897
4 45° ■2206 ■834627 -236547 ■165803
5 36° •1687 ■888866 ■143323 •094115
6 30° •1374 ■920371 ■096825 ■060 863
7 25$° ■1162 ■940223 ■070010 ■042 646
8 22*° -1008 •953506 ■053063 ■031564
10 18° •0799 ■969597 •033567 •019307
12 16° •066 2 ■978591 -023166 ■013026

T a b l e 1. Parameters o f the polygon transformation.

 1003

6 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

Actual ripple steepnesses usually He between about 0 09 and 0-21 (see Nielsen 1979),
the most common values being 0-18 f 0-02. This suggests that a value P = 5 ia not
unrealistic. In fact the profile (2.5) is then extremely close to the ‘ normal1form f of
the ripple as indicated by Lofquist (1978, figure 26). We shall therefore adopt this
value o f P for most o f the subsequent numerical work. However, we emphasize that
the analysis is by no means confined to this value o f P , or even to P integral (see

This commonly is close to the maximum surface slope of the ripple. The angle of
repose is in turn related to the shape of the sand grains, which again is correlated with
their mean size (the smaller grains being on the whole more rounded). This has led
Nielsen (1979) to suggest a correlation between ripple steepness and grain size.
Nielsen (1979) also suggested approximating the profile of each ripple by a para­
bola. The corresponding velocity field would be quite difficult to analyse. However,
by using the alternative form (2.6) we shall obtain a comparatively simple expression
for the flow over the ripple.

3. M a p p in g on to a circle
I t is straightforward to map the exterior of the polygon in figure 1 (b) onto the
interior o f the unit circle in figure 3 by writing

(3.1)

where £0, W0 and К are constants, to be determined. Equation (3.1) is the form to
which the Sohwartz-Christoffel transformation (Nehari 1952) reduccs when the
vertices of the original P - gon are transformed into the points

W = j = 1,2..... P (3.2)

on the unit circle. The lower limit o f integration W0 in (3.1) may be chosen arbitrarily
in or on the unit circle (excepting at the origin). The constant К defines the scale of
the transformation.
To determine К , we may take W„ = 1 and W = ег{”'р in figure 3. The corresponding
points A , В in figure lb are £0 = 1 and £ = So from (3.1) we have

(3.3)

Evaluation o f the definite integral in (3.3) yields

v = sin ( n / P ) Г(1
T (l / Р
P) (1/Р)! (3 .4 )
V ,p Щ )Г (* + 1 / Л (2 / P )!(- l/ P )V

Some values o f К are given in the fourth column o f table 1.

f 4N o rm a l1in the sense o f not ‘ compressed * o r 4extended
1004

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 7

J

F iq u r e 3. T ran sform ation o f the dom ain o f flow in figure 1 on to the in terior
o f the u n it circle in the W plane.

P = 0'5 — -----------------------— -------— ---- ------------— ---------►

0-6 -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ---------------------- ►

F iotjbje 4. Streamlines in the z plane corresponding to the in itial irrotation al flow.

To clarify the transformation further, we set

W = (3.5)

so that p = 1 corresponds to the unit circle. As a point in the z plane follows the profile
o f a ripple from A to В in the positive sense (a: increasing) the corresponding point £
in figure 1 (b ) traverses one side А В o f the polygon in the clockwise (i.e. negative)
sense, and the corresponding point W in figure 3 describes an arc A В of the unit circle
in the anticlockwise (i.e. positive) sense. In each case the sand is on the right and the
fluid on the left.
F o r numerical computation it is convenient to take Wa = e~i"IP to avoid the
singularity a t W = 1. Figure 4 shows some curves p = con stan t calculated in this way.
These correspond to concentric circles in the W plane.
 1005

8 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

4. T h e initial flo w
Suppose the fluid above the ripple is started from rest impulsively, in such a way
that far above the surface the flow is a uniform horizontal stream o f strength U .
Initially the flow will be irrotational and so is described by a velocity potential
X = ф + ii/r such that as у со so
X ~U z. (4.1)
Then from (4.1) and (2.2)
X ~ ( i U / k ) In С (4.2)
But from (3.1) we have when W is small

S -K / W . (4.3)
Hence (4.2) becomes, as W -> 0,
X ~ ([//i£)ln W. (4.4)
Now the potential
X ~ (V /ik )\ n W, (4.6)
represents a circular vortex in the W plane having zero flow across the boundary
p — 1. I t is regular everywhere except at W — 0, where it has the required asymptotic
behaviour, by (4.4). Therefore (4.5) represents the required initial flow.
The streamlines correspondong to (4.5) are given by
f = -(U jk )\ n p , (4.6)

and so are represented by the curves p — constant in figure 4.

S. T h e flo w due to a vo rtex

Consider next the flow due to a vortex of strength Г imbedded in the fluid at the
point z = znl say. Because o f periodicity in the x direction, we assume there are
similar vortices at the points z = zn + j L , j = 1, 2,....
The situation in the W plane is shown in figure 5. I f Wn is the point corresponding
to zn, there will be a vortex o f strength Г at each of the points
W = W n e 2niialPi (5.1)

N ow the velocity potential associated with a single vortex at Wn is

J L .in (iF - w ;). (6.2)

The potential associated with all P vortices in the interior is accordingly

£ Л , l n ( W - W ne W p )
j e l 2Til
= JL ln(JFp — W £ ).
4771
(5.3)

In order to satisfy the condition o f zero flow across the unit circle we simply add P
vortices o f equal but opposite strength —Г at the image points
Wn = i/W * (5.4)

etc. where a star denotes the complex conjugate. Thus altogether we have

V . J2m
L h м
x W - W i '
1006

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples

-Г

О
-Г
F i g u r e 6. A system o f vortices a n d their im ages in the u n it circle |W\ = I.

Consider now the motion of each vortex. For a free vortex we have, in the z plane,

dz* d f Г , , Л ^ ^
s ' ” 18" ' - ’ ] ™ -
For the corresponding motion in the W plane we have
dW *
(5.7)
dt " " d t'

where W ‘ denotes d W /d z. From (5.6) and (5.7) we have

= — E------- i-----] (5.8)

1 nl [d W 2 n i W '(z ~ z n)\ '

I t is convenient to introduce the modified potential

(5.9)

Near z = zn, an expansion in Taylor series gives

( W - W n) = W ' ( z - z n) [ 1 + 1 ^ 1 ( * - * „ ) ] (5.10)

and so
1 i W"
(5.11)
W '( z - z n) = W - W ^ i W ’*-

From (5.8) and (5.9) we have therefore

dW !
(5.12)
dt 1 nl LdW 2 m 2 W ‘* y
 1007

10 M . S. Longuet-Higgins

In (5.12) the last term depends essentially on the curvature o f the mapping function
W(z).
In (6.12) it is easy now to calculate the value o l d ^ / d W at W = Wn. I f x is given
by (S.5) we find

d%(n) Г P - 1 Р Ж Г -j 1 Г (P - 1 ) + (P - H )p y
dW 2m 2Wn
Щ W Z -W Z i - 2m 2Wn ( l -/>“ *) ’ (e ld )

where pn = \W n\. From (2.2) and (3.1) we have also

w,_ d jd w _ ik cm _
dz d£ K ( X - W P Y>P ’ У '
and hence
W' 1 dW ' к 1
2 W 'i Ш ’Ш 2 iW '^ W ( l - W p y (l "

6. V o rte x shedding
A fter the initial motion, boundary layers will form at the surface of the ripple. I f q
denotes the tangential velocity within the boundary layer, and t) is a co-ordinate
normal to the boundary, the flux o f vorticity within the layer is qdqjd'rf. Assuming q
to vanish on the boundary itself, the total vorticity flux across the layer is then

fq(dq/dri)di) = i Q 2, ( 6 . 1)

where Q is the velocity just outside the boundary layer (see Prandtl & Tietjens 1934).
Thus at the point of separation, vorticity will be shed from the boundary layer at a
rate I Q 2.
Following Clements (1873) and others, we shall agree to represent the resulting
motion by a succession of vortices imbedded in the irrotational flow, each vortex
being o f strength
Г n = f l Q 2dt, (6-2)
where the integral is taken over the time since shedding of the previous vortex.
The initial position o f each vortex is assumed to be given by

zn = z0+ \udt, (6.3)

where z0 is at or near the point o f separation and и is the corresponding vector velocity,
so Q * \u\.
A t any given time, therefore, the flow will be represented by a potential o f the form
r w p _ Wp
(6.4)

A t points other than the vortices themselves the velocity will be given by

|es)
t h a t is
_ E Г2+ у ^ l PWP— _ _£ £ L -U (6.6)
“ - w [ i k + ^ 2ni \wp - w p Wp - W K ) Y
1008

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 11

The motion of the vortices themselves ia found from § 5:
dW l T O rtf Г* f( P —1) + (P + 1)P?/ Wn W"n \
dt Wn lik 2m \ 2(1 —PnP ) 2W ? )
Гт f PW*j P W * )} ,67)
+ 1£ n 2n i \ w j ; - w r w z - w z i J- ( '

7. T he to ta l m o m en tu m
Expressions for the total momentum and for the net force exerted on the boundary
turn out to be remarkably simple.
The total linear momentum, or impulse I, of a body of fluid contained within a
contour С is given in general (see Ramsey 1942) by

/ = - J c lMz, (7.1)

where i]r is the stream function, and we have taken the fluid density to be unity, xjr is
assumed single-valued and non-singular within C. Any singularities at zn, say, must
be enclosed by contours B n surrounding zn and joined to C, if \jr is not single-valued.
In the case of the potential (6.4) \]r is in fact single-valued everywhere but a t the points
zn, and the contributions to I from the small contours surrounding these singularities
are vanishingly small.
Consider then the momentum contained in the contour С as defined by figure 6.
The contour consists of part of the ripple surface Cv two vertical lines Сг and at
x = + \L , and a remote horizontal line G3 on which у = and ijr f a , , say.
Take first the contribution l v from the term in \ proportional to U. For this we
have
\Jr = ~ (U /k )\n p . (7.2)

On Oj we have p - 1 so \jr vanishes. From Сг and C4 together there is no net contribu­

tion, by the periodicity of p as a function of x. Therefore altogether

l v = ~ f f d z = [ * f wdx = -(U L /ty ln p a . (7.3)

JO, J -IL

Now from (2.2) and (4.4) we have

b /„ = Re(ln£) = ln (K /pa ) (7.4)
and so
In Paj = \ n K - k y x . (7.5)

Therefore altogether we have as the contribution to I from the current at infinity

l v = U L (y „ -k -4 n K ). (7.6)

This expression is of course real, the vertical component of the momentum being zero.
 1009

12 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
С,

Bn

У- ©
c, ' 2/1

--------- / V C,

F ig u r e fl. T h e c o n t o u r С o f i n t e g r a t i o n i n t h e z p l a n e .

We note th at the total mass M of water contained below the level у = y„ is given by
M = L iy^ + k-bn), (7.7)
where
1
m= i f *<2(In sec kx)
L j x — IL
P Гя1р
= f £tan£d£. (7.8)
-»/p
Values of m are given in table 1. m /k represents the mean thickness of the water
contained below the level of the ripple crests.
Consider now the contribution to /from each vortex. From (6.4)
Wp - W p
•Jr = - - ^ l n (7.9)
r 2л Wp - W p
On Cv \jr is constant and equal to
, lw » p (7.10)
2Г»1п
^ ln [ T 3 ^
The contribution to I is therefore

(7.11)
2я
The contributions from 0 2and C4 cancel by periodicity, while on C3, where W is small,
we have _ p
I r = - £ In (W jW n)p = Intf*. (7.12)

The contribution from G3 is thus minus twice the contribution from Cv Noting that
LP_ 1
(7.13)
2я k’
we have altogether
7F = —fc-12 Г„1прп. (7.14)

For vortices shed by a positive current, the circulation Г„ is generally clockwise, or

negative. Since pn < 1, this means that I v will be negative in general, i.e. each vortex
produces a momentum, defect proportional to its strength Г„. I t is useful to consider
each vortex together with its image; really it is the image which induces the negative
momentum.
1010

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 13

Altogether, from (7.6) and (7.14) we have
/ = и Ц у а - к - Ч п К ) - к - ^ Т п \иря. (7.16)

8. The force on the boundary

From the above expressions we can immediately calculate the net force F exerted
on the ripple surface, either in steady or time-dependent flow. For, suppose the fluid
is accelerated by a mean horizontal pressure-gradient w = (8p j dx)v^ . From the
motion a t infinity we have ^ jj
w = -Л ' <81)
Now, considering the balance of horizontal momentum contained within the contour
С of figure 6, we note th at the convection of momentum across both Cx and C3vanishes,
while the convection across C2 just cancels that across C4, by the x periodicity. The
rate of change of the momentum within С is therefore due solely to the pressure
applied at the boundaries. Now the net force on the water across equals —F. At z
on C2 the pressure p exceeds the pressure at the corresponding point (z —L) on Ct by
an amount L td precisely, so the net force across these two boundaries is
-L m (h + y J , (8.2)
where h is the height of the ripple. Lastly the contribution from the horizontal contour
C3 vanishes. The momentum balance therefore gives

- F - L m ( h + y a), (8.3)
or by (8.1)

y - 4 ! + i' § < 4 + !'->- (8<>

On substituting for I from (7.15) we obtain finally

^ = L ^ ( i A + l n A ; ) + | s r > p n. (8.6)

The first term in equation (8.5), namely

kFv = L ^ ( k h + I n K) ( 8 .6 )

can be considered as resulting from an added mass fi/k per unit horizontal distance,
where
(i = kh + \n K = In (K secn/P ). (8.7)
This quantity is given in table 1. Clearly the force F v is proportional to dU/dt. In an
oscillating flow it does, on the whole, no work.
The second term in (8.5), namely
kFv = ^ Z V J n pn< (8.8)
represents a mean stress
V - f r /I - S a L r .h f t., (8.9)
 io n

14 M. iS. Longnet-Higgina
due to the generation and propagation of the vortices. In those time intervals when
no new vortices are being generated, both the Гя and the number of terms under the
summation remain constant and (8.8) reduces to
kF v = ^ T np J p n, (8.10)
П
a formula th at can be verified by Blaaiua’ theorem (see appendix A). Generally,
however, allowance must be made in F v for the generation of new vortices at the
point of separation.
Consider now the rate of working D by the external pressure gradient, per unit
horizontal distance. This is
Г Vas дф

D = ~ } - h W ~dydy (8.П)
where \jra denotes the value of \jf on the surface of the ripple. The part of \jr involving
U makes no net contribution, as we have seen. We therefore have left the vortex
contribution alone. From (8.11), (7.11) and (7.13),

<812)
In time-periodic motion, the right-hand side of (8.12) may be replaced, on average, by
d РГ
D ° u I t ? 4 ? ] n p ” ( 8 1 3 )

th at is to say
D = U r v, (8.14)
where ту is given by equation (8.9). In other words, the mean rate of working by the
external pressure gradient is just that required to overcome the vortex-induced stress
on the bottom. Thus we have an energy balance, despite the fact that the self-energy
of the vortices is infinite.

9. Numerical computations
The method outlined above is well suited to numerical computation in FORTRAN
with complex arithmetic.
As firat step, a subroutine was constructed yielding г as a function of W using equa­
tions (2.4) and (3.1). The values of К in table 1, which were first derived from (3.4)
using tabulated values of the gamma function (Abramowitz & Stegun 1966) were
then checked by means of the formula
rexvWP) H - W p )4p
К = i sin (2n/P ) -e- 1-----rjrp— dW, (9.1)

in which the lower limit, W0is taken as in order to avoid the singularity at W = 1.
The values of К in table 1 were verified in this way to six significant figures.
To carry out the method of § 6 a basic time-step Д< was chosen, of order 0-06 or less,
the velocity at infinity being given by

»• ‘<4 ,9 2)
Z70sin(rt, i Si 0.J
1012

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 15

In most computations a was chosen as unity (the results for inviscid fluid being
independent of the time scale) and further
U0 = 0-75Lo), (9.3)
where L ia the ripple length. Again, units of length were chosen so that
к = 1, L = 2;т/P (9.4)
and in most of the computations P was taken to equal 6 (see § 2).
At th e jth time-step it was supposed th at the position Wn of the nth vortex in the
W plane was advanced by an amount

ДТv = i - *> 1
” j = 2 ,3 ,. . J
the latter formula being accurate to 0(A/)3, not (At)1. The values of Wn = dWn/dt
were calculated from equation (6.7).
After every three time-steps a new vortex was generated at the point
WN ^ W B^ W ' au*At, (9.6)

where W0is the point (1 —$) close to the ripple crest W «■* 1, and u} denotes the velocity
at W0 (found from equation (6.6)) a t the three preceding instants Ц where j = {3N —2),
(3N —1), 3N. The strength of the vortex was taken as
I\ = (9.7)
j
corresponding to equation (6.2). The value of S was taken as 0-1.
When programmed in FORTRAN on the IBM 370-96 a t Cambridge University, the
above computation took about 3min for 250 time-steps (up to N = 83). Thereafter
each time-step took a time proportional nearly to the square of the number of
vortices: N 2.
As was found by Clements (1973) and also by Kiya & Arie (1977), the results were
fairly insensitive to the particular value of 8 (representing boundary-layer thickness)
and of the time-step At, except that if At were too large some vortices were lost by
crossing the ripple boundary p = 1. To avoid this it was found necessary to keep
At not greater than 0-025.

10. Initial results

Figure 7 shows successive stages of the computation for the sinusoidal oscillation
given by equations (9.2) and (9.3), with (5 —0-1 and Д< = 0-025. Each small semi­
circle represents a vortex, the radius Rn being proportional to the square root of the
corresponding circulation, in fact
Rn = (0-1Г,)*. (10-1)
The strength of each vortex is thus proportional to the area of the corresponding small
circle. Negative and positive vorticity is represented by semicircles 3 and С , having
gaps on their left and right sides, respectively.
In figure 7(c) when t = 0-9, the initial shear layer, represented by the 12 discrete
 1013

16 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

(«)

045
(*)

.Я)..
(с) 0-90

I 35
(<0

1-80
<«)

Jj

СЛ 2-25

F iq u k e 7 . Sueceeaive positions of p o in t vortices, in th e sinusoidal flow U = 0 7 5 a in

s ta rtin g from re st a t tim e J = 0. T he case P = 6, 6J — 1, A: = 1, с = 0.
1014

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 17

F i g u r e 7 (g - k ). F o r le g e n d §ee p . 16.
 1015

18 M . S. Longuet-Higgins
e

ШI
a) 4-95

6 30

F igure 7 (i-o)• For legend see p. 16.

1016

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 19

vortices shed by this time, is beginning to curl over, under the influence of its own
vorticity. When t — 1-80 the process is further continued, the first 16 point vortices
becoming concentrated into a rather tight spiral in the lee trough of the wave.
The greatest excursion of the vortices to the right occurs when t Ф 2-7. By this time
the velocity U is slowing down, and the strength of the vortices shed at the crest is
quite small. At i = 3-15 ± тг the flow at the crest is already reversed and some vortices
of the opposite sign are being shed. When t = 3-6 the vortex is being swept back over
the crest, dragging with it some vorticity of the opposite sign. Between t = 3-16 and
t = 6-30 the initial vortex is carried back through a distance of 2J ripple lengths
(though the total stroke 2a is only 1-5L) and comes almost to rest above the crest two
ripple lengths to the left of ita starting-point, having risen to a height of about \L .
When i = 6-3, the clouds of vorticity above the crests have become detached from
the fluid below, and it is possible to draw a line at about у = 0-25 (the wavelength L
being 2я-/5) separating these clouds from the vorticity remaining near the surface.
On examining the ‘ clouds ’ more closely it can be seen th at each of them is divided
roughly into two halves, by an axis at 45° to the horizontal. Above the axis the vorti­
city has mainly the same sign as the original vortex, i.e. it is negative. Below the axis
the vorticity is mainly positive. If now we sum the total positive circulation 2 Гп
r>o
within the cloud it is found to be O'710, compared with the total negative vorticity,
which is —0-712. The total circulation in the cloud is therefore almost exactly zero,
showing th at the cloud is, in effect, a vortex pair. I t is this property th at has enabled
the cloud to rise to its actual height and escape from the neighbourhood of the
boundary.
(It will be recalled th at an isolated irrotational vortex has infinite energy, not only
on account of the motion near its centre, which can easily be replaced by a viscous
core, but more significantly from the velocity field at infinity, which is proportional to
|z —znj-1. Thus in an infinite fluid to establish a single vortex would require infinite
energy. But, in the presence of a plane boundary, an irrotational vortex, together with
its image, has only finite energy, the cores being disregarded. A vortex and its image
can therefore be more easily generated. At the same time such a vortex pair is trapped
by the boundary; it cannot get away by itself without an infinite supply of energy.
Suppose, however, th at it meets another vortex pair, or system of vortices, such th at
the circulation of the total system on one side of the boundary is zero, then this system,
or any part of it having zero combined circulation, may indeed escape.)

11. Vortex pairing

To proceed further it seems permissible, at this stage, to simplify the computation
by replacing the upper clouds of vorticity in figure 7 (o) by equivalent vortex pairs.
Thus we wish to define two vortices Г+) Г_, say, situated at points W+ and W_ in
the W plane, with at least the following properties:

Г+ + Г_ = 2 Г Я ( П .1)
П
an d
Г+ In + Г _In TH = £ Г„ In Wn. (11.2)
H
 1017

J
С J
с J
с

СЧ.
С C.J ,
5
8 10
(О

С J
с с о

w 9-00

F iq u h e 8. P ositions o f p o in t vortices a fte r consolidation o f ‘c lo u d s' in

figure 6 (o) in to a. v o rtex pair.
1018

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 21

F ig o b e 9. Com parison of th e m om entum I a n d v o rtex force F {a) w ith o u t and (b) w ith
consolidation of th e v o rtex p air a t tim e I — 6-30. T he case P = 5, ы = 1, к = 1, £ = 0.

The first property ensures th at the total circulation of the system remains unaltered,
and the second th at the total momentum also is unchanged (see §6), at least moment­
arily. To these conditions we may add the following:

| Г+! + | Г_| = E | Г„| (11.3)

n
and
| Г+| InW+ + 1Г_| 1пЖ_ = £ | Г„| In Wn (11.4)
Tl
 1019

22 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

10 i

10 /

which, assuming Г+ and Г_ are of opposite sign, serve with the two previous equations
to define the vortices uniquely. In fact if the four sums in (ll.l)to (1 1 .4 ) are denoted
by 8 t, S lt S a and St respectively, and if Г+ > 0, we have
r+ = m + s , u
( 11 . 6 )
Г_- * № - £ ,) /
and
bIF+ = (S! + 5 ()/(S1 + S3),l
( 11 . 6 )
In *F_ = (S2-£,)/(,<?,- £ , ) . /
I t is understood th at the summations S { are taken over the vortices of the cloud only.
When this is done, figure 7 (o) ia replaced by the corresponding figure 8(a). On
1020

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 23

proceeding further (figures 8 b-d) it is found th at the new vortex pair rises to a height
у = 0-8L, well above the boundary. At the same time, interestingly, the original
vortex pairs become separated, probably under the influence of the remaining vorticity
below (compare Aref 1979) and each vortex forms a new pair with its neighbour on the
other side.
Meanwhile each cloud of vorticity situated in the ripple troughs to the left of a crest
in figure 8 (a) moves to the right through a distance of nearly two wavelengths and
rises to a height of about 0-3 L, having picked up some opposite vorticity on the way.
If the total vorticity in the cloud above у = 0-25 is summed it is again found to be
roughly in balance with the total negative vorticity in the cloud: + 0-524 as against
—0-589. Thus again we may replace the cloud by an equivalent pair of vortices and
proceed as before.
To demonstrate the effect of consolidation, we show in figure 9 the horizontal
momentum l v over one wavelength (as given by equation (7.14)) calculated in the
two cases when there is no consolidation of the vortices, and when there is consolida­
tion a t time i = 6-30, as in figure 8. I t can be seen that the difference is quite small.
Also in figure 9 we show the vortex force F v calculated from equation (8.10). To
perform the differentiation in equation (8.10) we have used the smoothed derivative
/ ; given by _
16/; = [ 4 / ; + 3 ( / ; +1+ /;_ ! ) + 2 (/;+2+ / ; _ ,) + ( / ; +3+ /;_ ,)], ( 11 .7 )
where
fn = {/n+l- / J / A f (11.8)
for a function /„ = Clearly this simplifies to

1 6 fh = (/п + 4 + /п + 3 + /п + 2 + /л + 1 )- ( /п + /п - 1 + /я - 2 + /7 1 - з ) - (ll-9)

12. Energy, stability and damping

As the computation proceeds the number of point vortices below a given level, say
у = 0-25L, is found to increase indefinitely, and the close approach of random pairs
of vortices occasions some unrealistically high values of Гд, and dWn/dt. As a result
the computation tends to become ‘noisy1. To avoid this effect we may exclude the
neighbourhood of each vortex by a small circle of radius Sn, say, inside which the
velocity field is bounded.
When this is done, the total kinetic energy of the flow becomes finite. In fact by use
of the formula
( 12. 1)
T - i j w

for the kinetic energy within a simple closed contour С it may be shown th at the total
energy contained in one wavelength L is given by
2T = V 2L(yx - k - 4 n K ) - 2 U k - 1'ZV7l\npn
П

+ ? T v [ In ( 1 t■K ) ~ ln
 1021

24 М. 8. Longuet-Higgins
То т а к е the model more plausible we assume that the radius of the core increases
with the time, that is
К = [«(«-<„)]*. (12.3)
where e is a constant resembling the kinematic viscosity v and (t —tn) is the elapsed
time since the instant tn when the vortex was generated. Outside the core, the velocity
is assumed irrotational. Inside, following Tunstall & Inman (1974), we assume a
solid rotation. Thus in the neighbourhood of W —Wn the contribution of the vortex
a t Wn to the velocity field is assumed to he multiplied by a factor

1 when [TP—И^| > Sn, (12 4)

and
\W -W n\y $ l when (12.5)
The total energy of the flow, which in a completely inviscid model would tend to
grow indefinitely, is to some extent kept in check by the continual increase in the size
of the vortex cores. From (12.2) we see th at this produces an effective rate of dissipa­
tion

which by (12.3) becomes

D = ? 8 я(<-<„)' (12-7)
independently of e.
The last expression may be compared to the loss of energy in a system of isolated
vortices in each of which

where r denotes the radial distance (see Lamb 1932, p. 592). From the general formula

D = JJ V ^r) rdrd6, (12,9)

we obtain
A—A

where A = r*/4v<. The integral in (12.10) is found to equal £ exactly (see appendix B).
This yields a value for the dissipation near the core which corresponds precisely to
(12.7).
The viscous dissipation at the solid boundary | TV| = 1 can be represented to some
extent by assuming that, when | Wn\ > 1 —Sn, the vortex is absorbed into its image and
disappears (cf. Clements 1973).

13. Coalescence o f vortices

In §11 it was proposed th at a cloud of point vortices sufficiently far from the
boundary might he combined, at a suitable instant, into a single vortex or a vortex
pair. When on the other hand each vortex is assumed to have a core of finite size, it
seems natural to allow any two vortices to merge when their cores touch or overlap.
1022

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples. Part 1 25

Besides providing a smoother process than before, this assumption has the advantage
of keeping the total number of vortices low enough for extended computation.
Accordingly we shall assume th at when two vortices at W = Wn and Wm, say, (or,
rather, two 2P-fold systems of vortices) are such that
\wn- w m\ < (Sn +Sm), (13.1)
then they are replaced by a single vortex (or vortex system) of strength Гпт at the
point W = Wnm where
r nm = r n + r m (13.2)
and
r „ mln WZn = r > WZ + r mln W *. (13.3)
Moreover we assume th at the area of the new core is the sum of the areas of the two
original cores. This implies an ‘age’ for the equivalent core equal to (t —tnm), where
e ( t- tmn) = e ( l- tn) + e ( t - t j . (13.4)
Hence, we define a hypothetical time of generation for the ‘equivalent’ core given by

where t denotes the instant of coalescence.

We note th at the rule (13.3) implies conservation of the total momentum. However,
if Г„ and Гт are nearly equal but of opposite sign, the position Wmn of the combined
vortex may be quite far from either Wn or Wm. We therefore restrict the occurrence
of coalescence to cases when ГпГт > 0.
When a vortex merges with its image a t the solid boundary there is little momentum
change, since then In W„ is quite small. Moreover, the loss of momentum is easily
interpreted as a frictional effect (see Clements 1973).

14. Com parison with observation: the drag coefficient

I t was noticed by Bagnold (1946) and confirmed by Carstens et al. (1969) th a t the
fluid drag over rippled beds can greatly exceed the corresponding drag over a flat
rough bottom, by some two orders of magnitude. I t is interesting to compare these
experimental results with our present calculations.
We may define a drag coefficient CB by
r = CDU\U\ (14.1)
relating the horizontal stress r on the bottom to the instantaneous velocity ZJ outside
the (inertial) boundary layer. The mean rate of energy dissipation over a cycle will
then be given by
D = Cd U*\U\. (14.2)
The drag coefficient CD may be a function of the time t, but we can define a mean
drag coefficient CD by the equation
п - 0 ощ и \\ (14.3)
hence
0 B = D /\U \* . (1 4 .4 )
 1023

26 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

Run Т 2а L
no. И (cm) (cm) 2a /L h /L B . / 10»
(a) Coarse sa n d (diam eter 0-585 nun)
63 3-57 20-2 14 6 1-38 •191 ■120 0-20
64 3-55 24-0 16-7 1-44 ■195 133 0-27
66 A 3 64 27-5 18 1 1-52 -186 ■164 0-34
66 3 55 32-1 20 4 1-58 -193 •155 0-44
67 3 54 37 1 23 9 1-55 ■190 -100 0-66
68 3 57 39 3 25 2 1-56 -206 -159 0-67
69 3-56 44-7 29 0 1-64 •200 ■142 0-88
70 3 54 48-4 25-7 1-88 ■185 -134 0-85
71 3-53 49 5 26 4 1 -88 ■185 •131 0-89
72 3-53 63 3 304) 1-78 ■187 ■122 1-09
73 3-55 58-2 26-2 2-22 •192 •124 104
74 3-56 616 30 4 203 •197 -125 1 27
76 355 65-4 39 1 167 ■150 ■118 1 74
76 3-53 70 4 37-8 1-86 ■181 ■109 1-81
77 3-54 74-9 35-7 2-09 ■173 ■110 1-82
78 3-47 78-4 46 3 1-69 ■148 ■097 2-47
79 3-55 84-7 44 1 192 ■157 ■096 2-54
80 A 3-54 24-9 17-4 143 ■180 -252 295

(b) M edium sa n d (diam eter 0-297 m m )

21 3-56 17-8 10 6 1-67 •171 •124 013
22 3-55 24-0 127 1-89 ■175 •092 0-21
23 3-56 27-3 14 5 1‘88 ■176 •084 0-27
24 3-55 30-7 14-5 2-12 ■179 •086 0-30
25 3-55 41-7 19-4 2-15 ■170 ■067 0-27
28 3 55 46-8 22-1 2-12 ■162 ■071 0-70
27 3 53 52-2 24 5 2-13 132 ■072 0-87
29 В 3 54 64-8 27 0 2-40 ■115 •053 119
ЗОВ 3-52 71-2 20-1 3-54 105 ■049 0-97
31В 3-52 89-0 19 1 4-66 ■026 ■035 116
32В 3-53 78-1 22-0 3-55 ■065 ■032 1 17
36 3-55 56-2 24 5 2-29 ■131 ■064 0-94
61 3-59 16-0 10 4 1-54 ■183 -187 113
(с) F ine sand (diam eter 0-190 m m )
106A 3-54 36-3 10-9 3-33 ■134 •053 0'27
111A 3-53 47-4 10 8 4-49 •125 -041 0-34
112A 3-53 62-7 10-0 6-25 ■048 •039 0-43
114 A 3-55 22-5 10-4 1-58 ■199 ■092 0-12
Т а в ь е 2. M ean d ra g coefficient Co derived from th e d a ta of C arstens et al. (1969).

I f U is sinusoidal, i.e.
V = U a s in (oil + c o n s t a n t ) , (14.6)
then we have always
(14.6)
I W ' - s 0 »-
T hus (14.4) becomes

cD= ^ n / u i (14.7)
1024

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 27

2a/L
FrGtrftE 10. E x p erim en tal a n d th eo re tic al values of th e d rag coefficient Cn in o scillating
flow over sa n d ripples. O bservations using vario u s grain sizes o f q u a rtz (C arstens el al. 1969):
Д , 0-585 m m ; □ , 0-297 m m ; 0> 0 1 9 0 m m . ■ , q u a rtz , L ofquist (1980). P re se n t th e o ry : * ,
e = 10- “ , x , e = 10 e o; +, £ = 10- “ .

(o) C alculated m ean drag coefficients in oscillatory flow, w hen P = б, к = 1, a /L = 0-75

VD
E ---------------------------------------

0 < {!)< 2я 7Г < hit < 3fT

0 •095 111
10- “ ■125 ■166
10-i-o -105 ■106
10- “ ■103 -114

(6) Values of th e m ean d rag coefficient (7o, w hen P = б, к ш 1 a n d Ue = a u = 1,

over various ranges of Oil
2a /L e (0, 277) {2тг, 4л ) (477, 8л) (6я, 8л) (8л, 10л) ( 10тг, 12л) Mean
1-0 10-« •091 ■091 ■098 ■109 •084 123 •099
1-0 10-4 ■093 ■095 •117 135 ■137 ■084 ■110
1-5 io -‘ ■101 •107 •122 ■155 — — •121
1-5 io -‘ •097 ■121 ■169 •096 — — •121
20 10‘ •091 ■037 ■139 — — — •089
2-0 10-* ■095 ■098 •092 _ — — ■096
3-0 io -‘ -086 ■092 — — — — ■089
3-0 io -‘ •099 097 — — — -• ■098
40 10-* ■076 — — — — — ■076
4-0 10-" ■068 — — — — — ■068
T able 3
r LM 10 7
 1025

28 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
Bagnold (1948) measured D directly with an oscillating sand tray and defined a
drag coefficient к by
TD
K = f/a ? (t) 2, where t = — (14 8)
4a ' '

T being the period of oscillation. (We take the density of water as unity.) Since
T = 2n/ct) and сш = U0 this definition corresponds to

0 d ^ \ k. (14.9)

Experimentally, Bagnold found th at when a /L < 1 then к = 0 08, and, for larger
values of a/L, к decreased like (a /L )_0 ,s.
Perhaps the most complete observations of drag have been made by Carstens el al.
with an oscillating U-tube, From their definition J = i f U 2 (where a single bar denotes
the space-average) it is clear th at we must have

Я п -Ш л-7 ,) (14.10)

(subscripts s and d denote the rippled bed and smooth bed, respectively). Table 2
gives those values of CD for which the available parameters are all known. From their
tables we have also deduced the values of 2a and 2a/L. In figure 10 we show CDplotted
against 2a/L. Although there is also some correlation in the data between 2a /L and
h/L, it is fairly clear from figure 9 th at the drag coefficient is relatively large at around
2a /L — 1-5, compared with its value at higher values of 2a/L. The spread of values
near 2a /L — 1-5 is also large.
The experimental points in figure 9 attributed to Lofquist (1980) tend to confirm
the measurements of Carstens et al.
Finally in table 3 and figure 10 we show the values of GDcalculated from equations
(8.14) and (14.4). Thus the second and third columns of table 2 show the values of

_ 3 f 2я+Л,/ы d
° D = Ш лГ~}фо1ы s tjr .ln p w J - in ^ iN ) (14.11)

calculated over the first complete cycle, centred on tot = n, and on the cycle centred on
wt = 2n, respectively. The value of e, as we have seen, is comparable to the kinematic
viscosity v, the boundary of the ‘core’ is at a radius £„ = [e(t —/n)]4, compared to the
radius at which the radial velocity (12.8) is a maximum, namely r = 2-24(i><)4. We
may therefore take e = 6-Op very roughly. In the model we took k — 1, L = 2л/5 and
<i) = t, Ua = 0-75o)L. This gives an effective Reynolds number

Re s V0L /v ~ б-Эе-1. (14.12)

The Reynolds numbers in table 3 (a) are therefore comparable with those in the experi­
mental data of table 2.
From table 3 (a) it is evident th at the calculated values of the drag coefficient CD
are not strongly dependent on e. The values of CD given in the last column have been
plotted in figure 10, and are clearly within the experimental range.
At larger values of a/L, the ripple steepness, in the experiments of Carstens et al.
(1969), on the whole decreases, so th a t the calculations for P « 5 are not directly
1026

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 29

2a /I

F 11. C alculated values of the d ra g coefficient, com pared w ith th e m easu rem en ts of
ig t t r e

B agnold (1946) over a rigid rippled b e d . ---------, observations of B agnold (1946). T heory for
£ = 10“*: + , P = 6 ; 0 , P = 6,

comparable with their results. However, the effect of increasing a /L while maintaining
h /L constant can be seen experimentally from the results of Bagnold (1946) who used
a fixed rippled surface with a constant ripple steepness of 1/6-7, th at is 0-149. His
experimental curve is shown by the broken line in figure 11. This indicates th at the
drag tends to decrease as a /L is increased beyond 1-0. No doubt this is due to the
troughs becoming filled with vorticity, so that for very long strokes an almost steady
flow is achieved on each stroke.
In table 3(6) we show some calculated values of the mean drag coefficient CD at
various values of 2a/L, and over successive complete cycles of the oscillation. I t will
be seen th at even after 6 cycles the flow is not steady. Some of the scatter in the
calculated values may well reflect a real unsteadiness in the flow, as has been found,
for example, by Bearman, Graham & Singh (1979) with oscillating flow round
cylinders. Again, the mean values of CD, shown in the right-hand column, do not
appear to depend systematically on the value of e. B ut there is a tendency for CD to
decrease as 2a /L increases beyond 1.
The steepness (0-149) of the ripples in Bagnold's experiment is intermediate be­
tween th at for P = 6 and P = 6 (see table 1). In figure 11, the corresponding values
of CDfor P = 5 and P = 6 have been plotted, a t the same value of e, that is e = 10~4.
I t will be seen th at the values for P = 6 all lie below those for P = 5, suggesting a
consistent dependence on ripple steepness. Moreover each of the calculated curves
shows a trend similar to Bagnold’s observations.

2-3
 1027

30 M .S . Longuet-Higgins
15. Discussion and conclusions
In this study we have implicitly assumed that the ripple boundary can be regarded
as stationary and well-defined, and th at the effect on the flow of any sediment in
suspension can be neglected, in a first approximation. In spite of these assumptions
it appears that the calculated drag coefficients are in remarkably good agreement
with the high values found experimentally.
I t will be appreciated th at fundamentally the present theory is inviscid. In the
vortex-shedding analysis of §6, if the time-scale is changed by a factor r, say, while
the horizontal displacement 2a of the fluid for large у is kept constant, then Q is
multiplied by r _1 and the circulation Гп corresponding to a given phase и>1 of the
motion, by (6.2), is multiplied by t -1 also. But Г„ has the dimension of (length)s/time.
Hence the displacements associated with each vortex element are unchanged. In other
words the pattern of flow is, to a first approximation independent of the frequency,
for a given horizontal stroke 2a. This agrees well with Bagnold’s findings (1946, §6)
that the pitch of vortex ripples was in all cases independent of the speed of oscillation.
Subsequent calculations based on assigning a ‘core’ to each vortex suggest that
for high Reynolds numbers the drag is not strongly dependent on Rc. When computa­
tions are carried to larger values of the time t, we may expect the scatter of the com­
puted values of CD at any given value of e to match the scatter in the observations. It
is also possible that the flow may settle to an asymmetric state, the drag in one
direction tending to exceed that in the opposite direction.
The limited comparisons th at we have so far made with laboratory data show
substantial agreement between the theoretical and observed values of the drag coeffi­
cient СD. They are also in rough agreement with the field data quoted by Vitale (1979,
table 1; Vitale's friction coefficient f, defined as 3?r0/2f7;5, is equivalent to 2CD).
A more detailed comparison with the available observations, for different values of
P, 2aj L and e will be given in future papers, together with a theory of the stability of
sand ripples making use of the present model, or a simplified version of it, for the fluid
flow. The question of possible three-dimensional vortex flows associated with
Bagnold’s ‘brick-pattem ’ (1946, figure 8) remains also to he investigated.
Meanwhile it should be mentioned that the basic transformation of the ripple
surface into a polygon, as described in § 2, is by no means confined to integral values
of P, but can be used whenever P is rational, i.e.

P = N /M > 2, (15.1)

where N and M are any positive integers. Thus in (2.2) we should have

kN L = 2Mir, (15.2)

th at is, the P-gon encloses its centre M times, and in both the f plane and the IF plane
we map N ripple lengths onto M sheets of a Riemann surface. The case P = 11/2 is
illustrated in figure 12. The analytic expressions, which need not be set out in detail,
are all quite similar to those already given.
The special case P = 2 corresponds to a digon or, in the z plane, a set of equally
spaced vertical parallel plates. The corresponding conformal transformation of a flat
1028

F i q h r e 12. T h e tran sfo rm a tio n o f 11 ripples w ith crest angle 1H -50” in to th e polygon {11/2},
(a) in th e 2 plane and (b) in th e £ plane.

(two-dimensional) plate into a circular cylinder, i.e.

rtf' 1 _ 1F 2
C- b - L . - W T - dW ' ( I 5 ' 3 )

ie well known. For then К — \ (see table 2) and on taking £0 = Wq = 1 we obtain

£== К Ж + J T -1). (15.4)

The author is indebted to his colleagues Dr I.G . Jonsson, Dr I. A. Svendsen and

Dr B. Hansen for arousing his interest in sand ripples during a visit to Copenhagen in
January 1979. Valuable assistance in amassing the literature on this topic was given
by the Librarian at the Institute for Hydraulic Research (I.S.V.A.) at Lyngby.
A further stimulus for this work came from papers presented at the Coastal Engineer­
ing Conference in Sydney in March 1980. I have had useful discussions on vortex
shedding with Dr P. Saffmann (Pasadena), Dr H .G . Homung (Canberra), Dr J.
Fenton (Sydney) and Dr T. Sarpkaya (Monterey); and on sand ripples with Dr P.
Nielsen (Sydney), Dr К. E.B. Lofquist (Washington, D.C.), Dr J. W. Kamphuis
(Kingston) and Dr J.F .A . Sleath and Mr C.G. deK. du Toit (Cambridge). I t is a
pleasure to acknowledge their help and interest.
A preliminary account of these results was presented at the 7th International
Conference on Numerical Methods in Fluid Dynamics, held at Stanford, California,
from June 23 to 27, 1980.
 1029

32 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
Appendix A. Derivation o f (8.5) from Blasius’ theorem
We start from Blasius’ theorem in the form

F + i a - ‘‘ [ L . L f * + ¥ / „ *• <a •>
Here F + iG is the force exerted by the fluid on the boundary Cx of the ripple. The signs
in (A 1) are the reverse of those normally assumed, since in figure 6 the contour is
taken with the solid to the right, not to the left.
Consider first

<A2>
where x ia given by equation (5.4). Since dx/dz is periodic in x, it follows that the
integral of (dx/dz)* taken along the two vertical contours Ct and Cx in figure 6 just
vanishes. So by Cauchy’s theorem

( A s >

where B n denotes a small contour surrounding z„. But, on C3, dx/dz ~ U, and on Bn
we may write
+ i* . (A 4)
dz 2m z - z n
where zn is the velocity of the vortex a t zn. Hence

- L v ‘+ ? L & - LD'+ 4 г- г- (A 51
by the residue theorem.
Likewise let
J .- fJ b - (AS)

Then if the Гп are all independent of I we have

* Jc.L»* 5 2m \ W * - W £ Wp - w z ) \ (A7)
Now on Cs and Ct we have
In FT = lnp ± iit/P , (A 8)
and on C3
1 п 1 Г ~ ]п Х -1 п £ = 1п£ + »Ь. (A 9)
Hence
f fVoo r f b + 4 /м
I In Wdz = - I (2 in /P )id y+ \ (\nK + ikz)dz
J Cl J-k J -iL+ivx,
= (2n/Р ) (y^ + A) + £(ln К ~ by J
= L(hy + \nK ). (A 10)
Moreover on C3 _j_
W ^W n ( A ti]
Wp - W* WF - W Z ~ W + W ,L ~P„'
1030

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 33

and the residue of the integrand at 2 = zn is simply

1Г я ( Гn _ _ Г1 я • (A 12 )
2ni WI 2т *'
Hence we have
-iL 0 (h + (A 13)
Wt n Pn n
Thirdly we have
(A 14)
'-T J .* -* *
where \}r, is found from (7.10):
4 . ___ p y T n fin (A 15)
dt t 2n p „
Hence
J 3 = - к ~ ^ Г лрп/р п. (A 16)
П
Altogether then we find from (A 1)

F + iQ —JiJ* + iJ 2 + ^3
= (JiL^ + tSTniJ + ^ f A + fc^lnA-)
ft

+ (2*r*s
\ n
rn£
Pft
- * sn r„ 0/ - ^ sn rn£
rn

= £iLUa + Ltf(fc + fc-1h £ ) + ife-12 r iA . (A 17)

n Pn
The real part of this equation gives precisely (8 .6 ).

Appendix B. Evaluation o f (12.10)

To show th at
(В 1)

we have
M = M 1- 2 M 2 + M 3, (B 2)
say, where
(B 3)

rtL 1 —f-p
= lim ' ------- dfi = In 2 (B 4)
h H-
 1031

34 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
and
,, Г“ 1 - 2 е - л + е - м
^ = Jo ------* ----- "
= J ® 2(1 —А—е~д) —(1 —2A—e~8*)
A2 rfA

where/t = 2A.Thus
M3 = - 2 lim f 2L(-i-~ Ar g~A)dA
i Ji A^
rib 1
= 2 lim J ^ dA = 2 In 2. (B.5)

From equations (B 2)-(B 5) the result (В 1) follows immediately.

REFERENCES
A b ra m o w tt? , M. & S te g u n , I. A. 1966 Handbook of Mathematical Functions. D over.
A r e f , H . 1 9 7 9 M otion o f th ree vortices. Phys. Fluids 2 2 , 3 9 3 - 4 0 0 .
A y b to n , H . 1910 T he origin and grow th of ripple-m ark. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 84, 285-310.
B aqnolx), R . A. 1946 M otion o f w aves in shallow w ater. In tera ctio n betw een w aves and sand
b o tto m s. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 187, 1-16.
B e a rm a n , P . W ., G rah am , J . M. R. & S in g h , S. 1979 Forces on cylinders in harm onically
oscillating flow. In Mechanisms of Wave Induced Forces on Cylinders (ed. J . H . Shaw).
P itm a n .
В и ю е в , E. W ., v a n R u ttm , E . & V e l li n g a , P . 1976 Sand tra n s p o rt b y waves. Proc. 16th
Conf. on Coastal Engng, Hawaii, pp. 1149-1167.
C a b s te n s , M. R ., N ie ls o n , F . M. & A t t i n h k . f k , H . D. 1969 Bed forms generated in the
lab o ra to ry un d er oscillatory flow. Coastal Engng Res. Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., Tech. Mem.
no. 28.
C le m e n ts , R . R. 1973 A n inviscid m odel o f tw o-dim ensional v ortex shedding. J . Fluid Mech.
57, 321-336.
C le m e n ts , R . R . & M a u ix , D . J . 1976 The representation of sheets o f v o rtic ity b y discrete
vortices. Progr. Aerospace Set. 16,129-146.
G baham , J . M. R . 1980 T he forces on sharp-edged cylinders in oscillatory flow a t low K eu leg an -
C arpenter num bers. J . Fluid Mech. 97, 331-346.
In m a n , D. L. 1967 W ave-generated ripples in nearshore sands. Beach Erosion Board, Washing­
ton, Tech. Mem. no. 100.
K a jiu k a , K . 1968 A m odel of the b o tto m boundary layer in w ater waves. Bull. Earthquake
Res. Inst., Univ. of Tokyo 46, 76-123.
K a l k a n i s , G. 1964 T ran sp o rt o f bed m aterial due to wave action. Coastal Engng Res. Center,
Fort Belvoir, Va., Tech. Mem. no. 2.
K i y a , M. & A nn:, M. 1977 A con trib u tio n to an inviscid v o rtex shedding m odel for a n inclined
flat p late in uniform flow. J . Fluid Mech. 82, 223-240.
L am b, H . 1932 Hydrodynamics, 6th edn. C am bridge U niversity Press.
L o f q tjis t, К . E . B. 1978 Sand ripple grow th in an osoillatory-flow w ater tun n el. Coastal Engng
Res. Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., Tech, Paper no. 78-6.
L o f q u is t, К . E. B. 1980 O bservations of drag on n a tu ra lly rip p led sa n d beds un d er oscilla­
to ry flows. Proc. lllh Conf. on Coastal Engng, Sydney, Australia (in press).
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M. S. 1973 On th e f o r m of th e highest progressive and sta n d in g wavee in
deep w ater. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 331, 446-466.
1032

Oscillating flow over steep sand ripples 35

M o q r id g e , G. R . & K a m p h u i s , J . W . 1972 E x p e rim e n ts on bed form generation b y w ave
a ctio n . Proc. 13th Conf. on Coastal Engng, Vancouver, B.C., p p . 1123-1142.
N e h a b i , L. 1962 Conformal M apping. M cGraw-Hill.
N i e l s e n , P . 1979 Som e bnsic concopts of w ave sedim ent tra n s p o rt. Inst, of Hydraulics and
Hydraulic Engng, Tech. Univ. of Denmark, Lyngby, Series Paper no. 20.
P b a m d t l , L. & T t e t j e n s , O . G . 1934 Fundamentals of Hydro and Aeromechanics (tra n sla te d
b y L . R osenbead). D over.
R a m s e y , A . S. 1942 Hydromechanics. P a r t I I . Hydrodynamics. C am bridge U n iv e rsity Press.
S a t t m a n , P . G. & B a k e r , G. R . 1979 V ortex in te rac tio n s. A n n . Rev. Fluid Mech. 11, 95-122.
S l e a t h , J . F . A . 1976 A c o n trib u tio n to th e s tu d y o f v o rtex ripples. J . Hydraulic Res. 13,
315-328.
S t a h s b y , P . K . 1977 A n inviscid m odel o f v o rtex shedding from a c ircular cylinder in ste a d y
a n d o scillatory fa r flows. Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. 63, 865-880.
TmisTALL, E . B . & In m a n , D . L. 1974 V ortex g eneration o f oscillatory flows over rip p le d
surfaces. J . Qcophys. Res. 80, 3475-3484.
V i t a l e , P . 1979 S a n d hed friction facto rs for oscillatory flows. Proc. A .S.C .E . 106 (W W 3),
229-245.
 1033

Proc. В . Soc. Land. A 390, 283-291 (1983)

P rin ted in Great B ritain

W ave set-up, percolation and undertow in the surf zone

By M. S. L onguet-H iggins, F.R.S.

Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics,
University of Cambridge, Silver Street, Cambridge CBS 9E W , U.K. and
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, WormXey, Oodalming, Surrey GU8 5UB, U.K.

(Received 27 M ay 1983)
[P lates 1-4]

W aves approaching a sloping beach induce a tilt in the mean water level
within the surf zone. The existence of this ' set-up ’ is here demonstrated
by observing the mean flow in a straight tube laid parallel to the incoming
waves; also by showing that the waves induce a siphon in a U-tube laid on
the sloping bottom.
It is argued theoretically, and confirmed by experiment, that the set-up
should help to drive an offshore bottom current (the undertow) between
the shoreline and the breaker line. Seawards from the breaker line the
bottom current is reversed. The consequent convergence o f the bottom
currents may contribute to building up the ‘breaker bar’.
Further experiments show that the mean onshore pressure gradient
drives a circulation of water within a porous beach. The associated pattern
o f streamlines also extends into the land, inshore from the run-up line.
Theoretically, the injection of dye at the sedim ent-water interface might
be used to probe the porosity of the beach material.

1. I n tbo du ctio n

Since the laboratory measurements by Saville ( 196 1 ) of the mean bottom pressures
due to waves on a sloping beach, it has been recognized that breaking waves tend
to cause a change in the mean level £ o f the water in the surf zone; this was called
the wave ‘set-u p ’ by Saville. A quantitative explanation was given by Dorrestein
( 1 9 6 1 ) and Lundgren ( 1963 ) in terms of the horizontal flux of momentum in the
waves, or equivalently in terms of the radiation stress (Longuet-Higgins & Stewart
1962 , 1963 , 1964 ). This analysis suggests that, seawards from the breaker line, where
the radiation stress is increasing towards the shore, the mean surface will tilt
downwards, and that between the breaker line and the shoreline, where the stress
is decreasing because of dissipation, the mean level will tilt strongly upwards, in
agreement with Saville’s observations. A full confirmation o f this effect was pro­
vided by the careful laboratory measurements reported by Bowen et al. ( 1968 ), who
like Saville ( 1961 ) measured the mean pressure on the bottom with a damped
manometer.
Because they are masked by the oscillatory motion o f the waves, these tim e-
averaged effects, though significant, are not easy to appreciate visually. The first
[ 283 ]
1034

284 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
objective of this paper ia to describe a clear dem onstration of the set-up by means of
the flow induced in a straight pipe laid on the sloping beach (see §2); also the flow
induced in a U-tube or siphon.
In the remainder of this paper we offer some demonstrations o f the effects o f the
wave set-up, first upon currents in the surf zone, where it can be shown to be respon­
sible for the so-called ‘undertow ’ (Evans 1938 ) and generally to influence strongly
the inshore circulation (see §3).
The second effect to be demonstrated is the setting up of an internal flow or
circulation of water within the beach itself, when this has a porosity characteristic
o f loose sand or shingle. The expected pattern of such a circulation is described in
§4, and in §6 we report some simple experiments that serve as a striking confir­
mation (see figures 6 and 7). Further discussion of the uses and consequences of these
phenomena is given in § 6 .

2. D e m o n stratio n of w ave set-up

Experiments were done in a rectangular wave channel 60 cm wide and 14m lon g;
shown in figure 1. A t one end of the channel an oscillating, wedge-shaped plunger
generated waves of period 1 s, which progressed down the channel and broke a t the
far end on a plane beach with gradient 0.11 (see figures 1 and 2). The depth o f water
in the uniform part of the channel was 33 cm, and the wave height at the breaker
line was about 14 cm. The initial break point В and the point of maximum run-up С
are indicated in figure 1 .
А В С

-----9.6 m -------------- н -------------------------- 4.4 m ---------------------

F ig u r e 1. S k e tch o f w ave c h a n n e l, w ith -w avem aker A,

b re a k e r lin e В a n d ru n -u p lin e C.

Experiment 1
An open-ended Perspex tube o f length 150 cm and internal diameter 1.3 cm was
laid on the sloping beach with its lower end approximately at the break point (see
figure 2a, plate 1 ). The upper end of the tube was then always submerged. The tube
was held in place by a sheet of wire mesh (mesh diameter approximately 3 cm) laid
across the tank, so as to cover only the middle section of the tube and not affect the
flow near the two ends.
W ith the waves absent, a email quantity of dye (potassium permanganate
solution) was injected into the upper end of the tube. This remained stationary until
the wavemaker was started. As soon as the waves reached the beach, the dye began
to flow strongly seawards down the tube (figure 2 (й)), with a mean speed o f about
36cm /s. Although there was some diffusion of the dye, this was email compared
 1035

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A , volume 390 Longuet-Higgins, plate 1

Г ' - -

J
/

F ig u r e 2. (o) A s tra ig h t tu b e laid in th e s u r f zone, w ith d y e in je c te d a t th e u p p e r end. T h e

w a te r is still. {6) D ye m o ving offshore u n d e r th e a ctio n o f w aves, (c) D ye e m erging from
th e low er e n d o f th e tu b e.

(Facing p . 284)
1036

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A , volume 390 Longuet-Higgins, plate 2

F i g u r e 3. U -tu b e w ith tw o u n e q u a l a rm s laid in th e s u r f zone, (a) D y e in je c te d in to th e

s h o rte r a rm m o v es to w a rd s th e b e a c h ; (6) d y e em erges from th e lo n g er a rm n e a r th e
b re a k e r line.

FiGtrRE 4. D ye in je c te d in to th e b o u n d a ry la y e r a t th e b o tto m m oves offshore.

 1037

Wave set-up, percolation and undertow in the surf zone 285

with the mean displacement of the dye along the length of the tube. On leaving the
lower end of the tube the dye dispersed rapidly into the main part of the channel
(figure 2 (c)).
The oscillatory component of the flow within the tube was small compared with
the mean flow, as one would expect from the fact that the length of the tube spanned
several wavelengths. We may therefore treat the flow approximately as a constant,
unidirectional flow of strength U through a pipe of circular cross section and
diameter < i« 1.3 cm. The Reynolds number R ** U d /v being about 3500 we apply
the Blasius law
I dp 0.158 U2
T <
,л>
for the pressure gradient along the axis of the tube (see Prandtl 1952 ). Taking
U = 35 cm /s we obtain та — 19 dyn/ cm 2f. On the other hand if we use the formula

та' = ^ = 0.15/? (2.2)

for the mean surface gradient in terms of the beach slope = —Ah/й х (see Longuet-
Higgins & Stewart 1963 , 1964 ), then we get та' = 16dyn/cm a, a comparable result.
This suggests that the flow in the tube is due mainly to the mean pressure induced
by the wave set-up.
Experiment 2
To eliminate the possibility of end effects, which involve the action o f the
oscillating flow on the open ends of the tube, a second experiment was performed in
which each end was stopped with a cork, and access to the flow in the tube was
through 16 holes, each 2 mm diameter, bored in the sides of the tube between 3 and
6 cm from each end (32 holes in all). A t the start of the experiment, the tube was
filled with water, the two ends were then corked, and dye was injected through one
o f the holes near the upper end. On activating the waves, the flow was again down­
wards along the tube, at a rate only slightly less than when the ends were open.

Experiment 3
A more spectacular demonstration of the set-up was achieved by inserting a
U-tube having arms o f unequal length, about 100 and 207 cm, into the surf zone (see
figure 3, plate 2 ). The tube was filled with water and the upper end, or bend, o f the
U was drawn up on the beach. In this position the lower arm of the tube was near the
breaker point B, while the upper end remained, as previously, just submerged
beneath the waves. The tube was therefore ready to act as a siphon. Dye was injected
into the shorter arm, and the waves were then activated, with the result that the
fluid flowed easily up the shorter arm towards the bend (figure 3 (a)) and then down
the longer arm and out near the break point (see figure 3(b)).
f 1 dyn = 10-* N.
10 V o l. 390. A
1038

286 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
I t is clear th a t by placing a turbine in the tube a small am ount of energy m ight
have been extracted from the flow, and hence from th e waves. However, th e
pressure head th a t is available would not be great. By (2 .2 ) the head would be a t
m ost 0.15 kg, where denotes the mean depth of w ater a t the breaker line. This is
related to th e breaker height 2a by 2a ~ 0.75 A,B (see, for example, Longuet-Higgins
& Stew art 1964 ). Though the flow could be multiplied by laying m any straight
pipes side by side norm al to the shoreline, it can easily be seen th a t the efficiency of
such a device would be extrem ely low.

3. C U B E E N T S IN THE 8 UKF ZONE

Im agine the tubes to be entirely removed. In spite of some increase in the vertical
mixing, we nevertheless expect a mean flow to take place near the bottom in th e same
sense as when th e straight tube was present. Accordingly, when the waves were
running, dye was injected into th e layer near the bottom ; this moved strongly
offshore (see figure 4). The bottom current extended only as far as the breaker line.
Even before this point was reached, the dye tended to become mixed w ith the fluid
at higher levels, and to be circulated towards the shoreline. Seawards from the
breaker line, the bottom current was weaker and in the opposite direction, i.e.
shorewards.
We recall th a t in a uniform progressive wave travelling over a smooth horizontal
bottom , the w ater particles tend to move forwards near th e bottom end in the
direction of wave propagation (Bagnold 1946 ; Bussell & Osorio 1956 ). This forwards
motion was explained b y Longuet-Higgins ( 1953 , 1956 ) to be due to the action of
viscosity, or eddy viscosity, in the boundary layer near the bottom . A similar
forwards flow would be expected on a smooth sloping beach, in the absence of a
m ean pressure gradient. However, it appears th a t the horizontal pressure gradient
associated with the wave set-up is so strong as to completely swamp the weak
viscous forces in th e lam inar boundary layer, and carry the whole flow in the
opposite direction.
This interpretation is strengthened by the following argument. The thickness of
the Stoke oscillatory boundary layer is of order S = (2v/<r)i, where v is the kinem atic
viscosity and or is the radian frequency of the waves. In the absence of a mean
horizontal pressure gradient, the m agnitude of the forwards drift, U, just outside
the boundary layer in water of uniform depth, is known to be %q2/c, where q is th e
am plitude of the oscillating flow and с is the phase speed. On a gently sloping bed,
V would still be of the same order of m agnitude and of the same sign. On the other
hand, the flow produced by an adverse pressure gradient та' = дд^/дх a t a height S
above the bottom will be of order xn'S/v, th a t is to say it is proportional to v~i. The
pressure gradient will therefore clearly dominate the viscous boundary layer and
determine the direction of the mean flow.
The effect of the mean pressure gradient is partly counterbalanced by a second
term contributing to the momentum flux, namely pu2, where и is the horizontal
 1039

W a ve se t-u p , p e rc o la tio n a n d u n d erto w in the s u r f zone 287

velocity. B ut this term diminishes with depth, and near the bottom it will, in
addition, be sharply reduced because of the decreased velocity in the Stoke layer.
B y definition, the radiation stress, whose gradient balances the wave set-up, is
essentially a vertically integrated momentum flux. As has often been noted, this
flux is in fact a function of the vertical coordinate, being greatest near the upper
boundary, and generally less at deeper levels. This unequal vertical distribution of
the stress can also be expected to drive a mean circulation, which is forwards near the
surface and backwards at lower levels. However, by the Kelvin circulation theorem
it would clearly be impossible to generate such a circulation in the absence of any
dissipation.
One further aspect of the motion is the mass flux, which also is unequally
distributed in the vertical, being greatest at the upper levels. This will also tend
to produce a circulation in the sense observed.
A complete theoretical model of the flow will need to balance both the mass flux,
the momentum flux, and also the flux of angular momentum (see Longuet-Higgins
1980 , 1983 ).
The reverse bottom current, or *undertow’, in the surf zone may be expected to
be strongest when the beach is fairly steep, and therefore the surf zone is narrow.
For very gentle beach slopes the current may not be significant. In addition, when
the surf zone is relatively wide, the two-dimensional pattern of circulation seen in a
narrow laboratory channel may tend to become unstable to three-dimensional
perturbations, and to break up into a horizontal circulation associated with rip
currents, as described in Shepard & LaFond ( 1939 ).

4. P E B C O L A T I O N I K A P O E O U S B E A C H
Since all beaches consisting of shingle, sand or unconsolidated sediment are to
some extent porous, one would expect the changes in the mean pressure associated
with the set-up to produce some flow of sea water within the beach itself.
I t has already been shown (Putnam 1949 ) that the oscillatory component o f the
pressure may produce some damping o f the waves over a porous beach. B ut the
mean pressure gradient, though smaller, will produce effects that, because they are
cumulative in time, may be more far-reaching.
As a very simple model, consider a beach of uniform porosity, in which the flow
velocity и obeys the Darcy law
и=-кЧр, (4.1)

where p is the pressure and к is a constant. In other words

и = V<5. (4.2)

where ф = - кр, is a potential, which by continuity must satisfy

V V = 0. (4.3)
10-2
1040

288 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
In th e simple theory of wave set-up outlined in § 1 the pressure gradient dp/dx
is uniform between the break point В and the run-up point С (see figure 1 ). I f we
agree to neglect the much smaller wave set-up (or ra th e r ‘ set-down ’) seawards from
the breaker point, and also neglect the fact th a t inshore from С the upper surface of
the w etted porous medium will not coincide exactly w ith the plane surface of the
beach, then the m athem atical problem to he solved becomes very simple. We m ust
find a potential function ф satisfying Laplace’s equation (4.3) in the lower half
plane below the line BC, and such th a t
K (constant) between В and C, (4.4)
{ 0 elsewhere on BC. (4.5)
Here, x' and у denote rectangular coordinates with the origin О at th e m id-point of
BC, and with Ox' in the direction of ОС (see figures 1 and 5).

У ' /l
F i q u b e S. T h eo re tic al stre am lin e s o f flow in a m ed iu m o f u n ifo rm p o ro s ity b o u n d e d b y y ' = 0,
w hen a u n ifo rm p re ssu re g ra d ie n t 3 ф /дх‘ is a p p lie d b e tw ee n В a n d C.

The solution of this problem is well known. In fact if we take elliptical coordinates
(£,4) defined by
x ’ = l cosh £ cos Ц ^
y' = / sinh £ sin tj, J
where 0 < f < oo, 0 ^ 7/ ^ л and I = ОС, then the function we seek is
ф = Kle~^cosij.
The conjugate function
ifr = XZe_{sin^
is a constant along the streamlines of the flow. These are shown in figure 5, which is
adapted from a paper (Longuet-Higgins 1949 ) on the electrical currents induced by
 1041

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A , volume 390 Longuet-Higgins, plate 3

F i g u r e 6 . Flow p a tte r n in a po ro u s beach re v ea le d b y in se rtin g p a rtic le s of d y e n e a r th e aide

w all o f a w ave ch an n e l, (a) P a rtic le in se rte d n e a r c e n tre of s u r f zone, show ing tra je c to ry
m o ving d o w n w ard s; (6) 10 s la te r: (c) tra je c to rie s from fo u r p a rtic le s: (d) trajec to rie s
from six particles.

(Facing p. 288)
1042

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A , volume 390 Longuet-Higgins, plate 4

p o in t n e a r th e c e n tre line o f th e ta n k , in th e u p p e r p a r t o f th e s u r f zone. T h e d y e e m e rg es

la te r a t a p o in t low er dow n th e beach.
 1043

Wave set-up, percolation and undertow in the surf zone 289

tidal streams flowing in a straight channel of elliptical cross section, in the presence
of the E a rth ’s magnetic field. I t can be seen th at the flow extends considerably
outside the segment between В and C. (It was this property th a t enabled the streams
in the English Channel to be detected by potential measurements on one side of the
channel only.)

5. E x p e r i m e n t a l v e b t if ic a t io n

Experiments were conducted in a smaller wave channel, 1.7 m long and 8.5 cm
wide. Short waves of period 0.25 s were generated by the plunger at one end.
A sloping beach of height 15 cm and length 60 cm (figure 6, plate 3) was placed
about 50 cm from the wavemaker. For convenience, the loose beach sediment was
replaced by a sponge-like packing material with a similar porosity, which pressed
lightly against the glass sides of the tank. A second rectangular block, 60 cm long,
consisting of the same material, was placed behind the wedge-shaped beach, and
in contact with it.
Waves of period 0.25 s impinging on the beach produced a well defined breaker
line and run-up, analogous to th at seen in the larger wave channel.
To reveal the pattern of percolation, particles of potassium permanganate dye
were inserted into the beach near one side wall, in the upper half of the surf zone.
W hen the point of insertion was near the middle of the surf zone the dye moved
at first downwards into the beach (see figure 6 (a)), and then returned to the surface
further down the slope (figure 6(6)). Repetition of the procedure with more dye
particles (figures 6(c,d)) revealed a flow pattern similar to figure 6. I t can be seen
th a t somewhat shorewards from the breaker line the flow is to the right; th a t is to
say the waves are pumping water into the ‘ land ’.
In th e experiment, the fluid wa9 free to return along a path below the porous
beach, thus accounting for the continuous darker zone seawards from the breaker
line, in figure 6(d).
In a further experiment, viewed from above in figure 7, plate 4, dye was injected
into the upper half of the sloping ‘beach1 a t a point near the centre line of the
channel. Again the dye disappeared down into the beach and reappeared a few
seconds later a t a point lower down (see figure 7).

6. D isc u ssio n

I t has been demonstrated th at, provided the porosity of the beach is uniform,
water from the surf zone may percolate down to depths below the surface, which are
comparable with the width of the surf zone. Such a circulation is likely to transport
oxygen, and hence help to m aintain biological activity a t these levels. By preventing
anaerobic conditions the circulation may also help to keep the beach mobile.
In general, the porosity will not be uniform, b u t is likely to diminish somewhat
with distance below the surface. The time taken for the dye to travel along a given
trajectory depends directly on the porosity along its path. Theoretically it should
1044

290 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
be possible to determ ine the distribution of porosity by an inverse method, while
knowing the travel times of dye injected at different points on the beach surface.
In practice, any atte m p t to do this might be hampered by the turbidity of the w ater
and by other difficulties associated with making observations in the surf zone.
The presence of a small vertical component of the pore pressure gradient may
have little effect on th e stability of sand grains. On the other hand, the tangential
m ovem ent of th e sand is bound to be affected by the mean horizontal pressure
gradient. The convergence of the bottom current in the neighbourhood of the
breaker line suggests a p artial explanation for the formation of the ‘breaker b a r ’
by horizontal convergence of the transported sand.

The experim ents described in this paper were done in Cambridge, England,
during the summer of 1982, and were first reported at th e Coastal Engineering
Workshop, University of Hawaii, in August of th a t year. For assistance with the
photography, I am indebted to D r J. W. Simpson and Mr N. D. Smith. The m anu­
script was prepared during a visit to the D epartm ent of Engineering Sciences of the
U niversity of Florida a t Gainesville, Florida. I am also indebted to the Chairman,
D r K. Millsaps, and to his staff for their hospitality and assistance.

R e feh en c es

B a g n o ld , R . A . 1946 S a n d m o v e m e n t b y w a v e s: som e sm all-scale e x p e rim e n ts w ith s a n d

o f v e ry low d e n sity . J . ln s ln civ. Engra 27, 447—4G9.
B ow en, A . J . , I n m a n , D . L. & S im m ons, V. P . 1968 W av e ‘s e t-d o w n ’ a n d se t-u p . J . geophys.
R es. 73, 2669-2577.
D o rre ste in , R . 1961 W av e se t-u p on a b each . In Proc. 2nd Tech. Conf. on Hurricanes, M ia m i
Beach, Florida, p p . 230-241.
E v a n s , O. F . 1938 T h e u n d e rto w . Science, N .Y . 88 , 279-281.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1949 T h e electrical a n d m ag n e tic effects o f tid a l stre a m s. M on.
N ot. R. astr. Soc. geophys. Suppl. 5, 285-307.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1953 M ass tr a n s p o r t in w a te r w av es. P hil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A
2 4 5 , 535-581.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1956 T h e m ec h an ic s o f th e b o u n d a ry -la y e r n e a r th e b o tto m in a
p ro g ressiv e w av e. I n Proc. 6th In t. Conf. on Coastal Engng C. 10, pp. 171-183. B e r k e le y :
U n iv e rs ity o f C alifornia.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. i g 8o S pin a n d a n g u la r m o m e n tu m in g r a v ity w aves. J . F lu id Mech.
9 7 , 1 -1 5 .
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1983 On in te g ra ls a n d in v a ria n ts fo r inviseid, ir ro ta tio n a l flow u n d e r
g ra v ity . J . F luid Mech. 134, 156-159.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. & S te w a rt R . W . 1962 R a d ia tio n stre ss a n d m a s s tr a n s p o r t in
g ra v ity w aves, w ith a p p lic a tio n to 's u r f b e a ts '. J . F lu id Mech. 13, 481-504.
L on g u et-H ig g in s, M . S. Sc S te w a rt R . W . 1963 A n o t e on w av e se t-u p . J . mar. Res. 21, 4 -1 0 .
L on g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. & S te w a rt, R . W . 1964 R a d ia tio n stre sse s in w a te r w a v es; a p h y sic al
discussion, w ith a p p lic atio n s. Deep Sea Res. 11, 528-662.
L u n d g re n , H . 1963 W av e t h r u s t a n d e n e rg y level. I n Proc. In t. Assoc. H ydraul. Res. Congr ..
London, p p . 147-151. D e lft, N e th e rla n d s : I.A .H R .
P ra n d tl, L . 1952 Essentials of F luid D ynamics (452 p ag es). L o n d o n : B lackie & Sons.
P u tn a m , J , A. 1949 Loss o f w av e en erg y d u e to p e rc o la tio n in a p erm eab le se a b o tto m .
Trans. A m . geophys. Un. 30, 349-356.
 1045

Wave set-up, percolation and undertow in the surf zone 291

R ussell, R . W . & O sorio, J . T). C. 1956 A n e x p erim e n tal in v estig a tio n of d rift profiles in a
closed c h an n e l. I n Proc. 6th Conf. on Coastal Eng. C. 10, pp. 171-183. B e rk eley : U n i­
v e rs ity o f C alifornia.
Saville, T . 1961 E x p e rim e n ta l d e te rm in a tio n o f w ave set-u p . In Proc. 2nd Tech. Conf. on
Hurricanes, M iam i Beach , Florida, pp. 242-252.
S h e p a rd , F . P . & L a F o n d , E . C. 1939 U n d erto w . Science, N . Y . 89, 1-2.
1046

J. Fluid Mech. (2005), vol. 527, pp. 217-234. © 2005 C am bridge University Press 217
D O I: 10.1017/S0022112004003222 Printed in the U nited K ingdom

On wave set-up in shoaling water

with a rough sea bed
By M I C H A E L S. L O N G U E T - H I G G I N S
In s tiiu te fo r N o n lin e a r Science, U n iv ersity o f C alifo rn ia, San D iego, L a Jolla,
C alifo rn ia 92093-0402, U SA

(R e c e iv e d 2 A pril 2004 an d in revised fo rm 27 O c to b er 2004)

In very gradually shoaling coastal water the energy of incident waves appears to
be absorbed not by breaking at the upper surface, but predominantly by turbulent
dissipation near the rippled sea bed. The question has been asked whether there can
be then any wave set-up, that is any increase in the mean water level, at, or close to,
the shoreline.
To answer this question the equations of wave energy and momentum in water of
slowly varying depth are generalized so as to include the presence of a dissipative
boundary layer al the bottom. It is then shown that the resulting equation for the
mean surface slope can be integrated exactly, to give the mean surface depression (the
‘set-down’) in terms of the local wave amplitude and water depth, outside the surf
zone. In the special case of a uniform beach slope y, a closed expression is obtained for
the wave amplitude in terms of the local depth, under two different sets of conditions:
(i) when the thickness of the boundary layer at the bottom is assumed to be constant,
and (ii) for waves over a rippled bed, when the boundary-layer thickness corresponds
to the measured dissipation of energy in oscillatory waves over steep sand ripples. In
both cases it is found that there exists a maximum bottom slope s below which the
wave amplitude must diminish monotonically towards the shoreline. This maximum
value of s is of order 10~3. The waves can indeed penetrate close to the shoreline
without breaking, and the corresponding wave set-up is negligible. An example of
where suitable conditions exist is on the continental shelf off North Carolina.

1. Introduction
On some shorelines such as the Atlantic coastline of the USA, the water shelves
very gradually (see Herbers, Hendrickson & O’Reilly 2000), and most of the energy
of incoming swell appears to be dissipated near to the rippled sea bed, not by wave
breaking at the surface. A question put to some of his colleagues, including myself,
by Professor R. Guza was this: In such a situation, would one expect to see the usual
wave ‘set-up’ which occurs near a shoreline inside the breaker zone? It will be recalled
that outside the breaker zone the wave set-up is actually negative: there is in fact a
small wave ‘set-down’ (Saville 1961; Longuet-Higgins & Stewart 1963, 1964). If the
wave energy is all dissipated near the bottom, and no breaking occurs, what happens
to the wave set-up?
A further question is whether it is actually possible for waves to reach the shoreline
without breaking at all, and if so, under what conditions.
Seawards of the breaker line an important part is normally played by the
well-known phenomenon of mass transport in the bottom boundary layer (the
 1047

218 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
'Stokes layer’). As shown by Longuet-Higgins (1953), if the horizontal component
of the oscillatory velocity of the fluid just beyond the boundary layer is given by
и = q cos(kx —at) (1.1)
where x is a horizontal (or tangential) coordinate, t is the time and к and a are the
wavenumber and radian frequency, then just outside the boundary layer there must
be a horizontal Lagrangian velocity

in the direction of propagation, where c = cr/jt, the phase speed. This is of course
quadratic in the orbital velocity q. Remarkably, although the result (1.2) was obtained
by integration of the full Navier-Stokes equations of motion throughout the boundary
layer, it is independent of the kinematic viscosity v.
Furthermore, it has been shown that even if the viscosity, or the eddy viscosity,
varies throughout the layer, equation (1.2) remains valid, to second order in the wave
amplitude, provided the viscosity is a function only of the mean distance of a particle
from the boundary (Longuet-Higgins 1957).
The ‘bottom-drift’ velocity (1.2) is found to be in agreement with laboratory
measurements by Bagnold (1947) and by Russell & Osorio (1957) and is also
confirmed by field observations. This suggests that under normal conditions where
waves approach a shoreline in shallowing water, there is a shorewards drift of water
(and perhaps sand) near the bottom outside the breaker zone. Inside the breaker
zone, however, the bottom drift is reversed, as can be shown by simple experiments
(Longuet-Higgins 1983). Thus at the breaker line the two oppposing bottom currents
meet and a sand bar (the ‘breaker-bar’) tends to be formed.
Now waves over a rippled sea bed tend to generate vortices (for a theoretical
description see Longuet-Higgins 1981) which spread upwards and can carry sediment
or sand in suspension (the suspended load). It is reasonable to represent this fluid
layer as turbulent, with a certain eddy viscosity and a density somewhat greater than
that of clear sea water. Thus we may consider waves in a two-layer system, of a total
depth which decreases steadily towards the shoreline. What happens when waves pass
through such a system?
In some preliminary experiments with a two-layer system the upper layer was
pure water and the lower layer was a sugar solution consisting of equal weights of
water and brown sugar. The density of the mixture was measured to be 1.30 times
that of pure water, and the viscosity, at room temperature, was determined as about
16 times that of water. The contrast in colour was sufficient, over the duration of
the experiment, to define the boundary between the two fluids, although as time
progressed some diffusion and mixing occurred. A description of the apparatus, the
experimental procedure and the results have been given elsewhere (Longuet-Higgins
2004). Briefly, it was found that a bottom boundary-layer consisting mainly of fluid
from the lower, denser layer, advances up the sloping beach as far as the breaker-line.
There it rises vertically and is diffused by the turbulence from the breaker zone. If
one reduces the amplitude of the incident waves, the breaker-line moves closer to the
beach, and with it the bottom boundary-layer.
The present paper is essentially a theoretical discussion of whether it is possible for
purely progressive waves, in such a situation, to reach a shoreline without breaking.
In §2 and §3 we generalize the discussion of energy and momentum flux in
progressive, irrotational surface waves in water of slowly varying depth to the situation
1048

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 219

when there is a thin, oscillating boundary-layer (a Stokes layer) at the solid bottom.
Expressions for the mean rate of energy dissipation D and for the mean horizontal
stress rB on the bottom are derived and it is noted that
D — сt s (1 .3 )

where с is the phase speed. By using equation (1.3) to combine the equations of energy
and momentum it is shown in §4 that there exists an exact integral, equation (4.14),
for the second-order change in mean level (the wave ‘set-up’) in terms of the local
depth h and the local wave amplitude a, even in the presence of energy dissipation at
the bottom. In § 5 this result is further generalized to the situation when the bottom
boundary layer has a different fluid density p' and kinematic viscosity v' than in the
rest of the wave.
In § 6 we consider the special case when the bottom slope s is uniform. It is found
that in shallow water, and provided the thickness &' of the boundary layer is constant,
there exists an analytic solution for the wave amplitude a as a function of the depth
A or as a function of distance x from the shoreline. This is shown in figure 1.
The more common situation when the bottom consists of sand ripples is treated in
§7. By comparing the measured rates of energy dissipation for waves over a rippled
bed with the energy dissipation in a Stokes layer one can derive a simple expression,
equation (7.1), for the equivalent thickness of the bottom boundary layer. This also
is supported theoretically by vortex-shedding calculations (see Appendix B). Owing
to variations in ripple steepness and sand-grain diameter the constant P in equation
(7.1) is determined only to an order of magnitude. Interestingly, however, it turns out
that the resulting equation for the wave amplitude a as a function of the depth can
be solved exactly in analytical form. The result is plotted graphically in figures 2(a)
and 2(b).
One consequence of the solutions in both §6 and §7 is that there exists a maximum
bottom slope s for which the ratio a /h always decreases steadily towards the shoreline,
so that if the waves are not breaking at a certain depth h0 then they will not break
when A <Ao- This critical bottom slope is of order 10-3; see equation (7.18).
In §8 we consider as an example the wave observations of Herbers et al. (2000) over
the continental shelf off North Carolina, and show that that situation is consistent
with the theory of §7. A discussion and conclusions follow in §9 and § 10.

2. Energy flux
In the following analysis, which applies to waves outside the surf zone when the
bottom slope is small and there is no reflection from the shoreline, we shall make
use of the linearized theory of surface waves in water of uniform depth. In previous
studies, e.g. Longuet-Higgins & Stewart (1964), this has provided surprisingly accurate
results. In the present instance the theory has to be slightly modified by the presence
of a boundary layer at the bottom, in which the tangential velocity is given by
(2. 1)

where q is the amplitude of the velocity just outside the oscillatory Stokes boundary
layer; see §1. q is related to the wave amplitude a at the surface (2a is the wave
height) by
aa
q x ------------ ( 2 .2 )
sinh k h
 1049

220 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
and a is given by
va2 = —icr, Re(a) > 0 (2.3)
so
or = (1 - i)/(5 where S = {2v/cr)l/2. (2.4)
Here v is the kinematic eddy viscosity which for simplicity will be assumed to be a
constant. The nominal thickness <5 of the boundary layer will be assumed to be small
compared to the wavelength 2n /k and also the mean depth h, so that both
k&<. 1 and S /ft< l. (2.5)
The dispersion relation
a 2 = gk tanh/fcft (2.6)
for gravity waves on an inviscid fluid is then closely valid.
The density of kinetic energy in the boundary layer, per unit horizontal distance, is
given by
д-А+ОМ)
Eв == j \p u 26z = \p q 2S (2.7)

with neglect of (k5)7. In comparison with the inviscid wave energy density
E = \pga2 (2.8)
EB is clearly small, by the assumptions (2.5). Thus the horizontal flux of energy F
can be written, to this approximation, as
F = Ecs (2.9)
where E is given by (2.8) and cg denotes the group velocity:

+ <2 101
In a quasi-steady state, the energy balance equation becomcs

~ = (2.11)

where D denotes the rate of energy dissipation per unit area within the boundary
layer, that is
,-A -M X J ) /я и\ 2
D= J ( 9^j dz = i P ff925- (212)
In view of equation (2.2) and the dispersion relation (2.6) this can be written

{213)
On substituting the expressions (2.8), (2.9) and (2.10) into equation (2.11) we obtain
d_
= —D (2.14)
dt 4к \ sinh2A/i
where D is given by equation (2.13).
1050

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 221

3. M om entum flux
We shall now consider the change in the mean surface level £ accompanying the
variation in wave energy described in §2. This can be derived from the horizontal
flux of horizontal momentum, by a generalization of the argument given in Longuet-
Higgins & Stewart (1962, 1964).
In a quasi-steady state the balance of horizontal momentum is given, to lowest
order, by
dS
(3.1)
where denotes the radiation stress component
2kh
+ (3.2)
6 sinh 2kh
and i B is the mean tangential stress exerted by the waves on the bottom. Since the
mass-transport velocity UB in the boundary layer (see Longuet-Higgins 1953) is

UB = %-(5 — 8e~ U + A )/ S cos(z + h)/S + 3e-2,z+A)/s) (3.3)

4с y
where c = cr/k, we find
'dU B\ = q2_
(3.4)
dz /^г—h
Thus
fd U B\ _ pvkq 2
rB \p kq 2S (3.5)
P I dz ) г 2a S
since S is given by (2.4). From (2.12) we notice that
D = czB (3.6)
as might be expected. Thus equation (3.1) can be written
d 2kh '\ dl
dx in -’ ( j + ----------
sinh 2kh 1
I + Pgh-r- = -D /c .
dx
(3.7)

The relation (3.6) between the mean dissipation D and the mean bottom stress rB is
not surprising when we consider the fluid motion relative to axes moving horizontally
with the phase speed c. For then the bottom boundary layer appears as the result of
a horizontal stress tb moving with speed —с and applied to an otherwise stationary
fluid. The energy and momenlum transferred to the fluid should then be in the ratio c.
This argument leads us to expect that equation (3.6) will apply even when the
viscosity (or the eddy viscosity) in the boundary layer is not a constant, so that the
profile of the mass transport is not necessarily given by equation (3.3).
We can combine the momentum flux equation with the energy flux equation (2.14)
by multiplying each side of (3.7) by с and subtracting the result from (2.14). Thus we
obtain
a2 / 2kh d_ i 2 ( I 2kh
/ Д = i* A (3.8)
dx 4 d* к \ sinh 2kh dx \2 sinh2£ft
where a2, к and h are all considered to be slowly varying functions of x. Note that
since dh/dx = —s, where j is the local bottom slope, not necessarily constant, we can,
 1051

222 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
after dividing each side of (3.8) by s, replace d/dx by d/dA throughout, or simply by
the differential d.
We shall now show that equation (3.8) has an exact integral for { in terms of a2, к
and h.

4. An exact integral of equation (3.8)

In this proof we follow the method of Longuet-Higgins & Stewart (1962, §4), but
generalize to when the energy flux F is no longer a constant.
From (2.9), (2.10) and (3.2), equation (3.8) can be written

df = ---- —(dS„ - c _1dF) (4.1)

Pgn
where
(4.2)
StI - (c 2c j ’
From the general formula
да 1 da2
(4.3)
* 3к 2a dk
(where h is kept constant during partial differentiation) we have then
'2 k _ dk \
S,, = a F (4.4)
da2)

Now in terms of the dimensionless variables

$ = kh, r]= o 2h/g (4.5)
the dispersion relation (2.6) becomes simply
ij —£ tanh f (4.6)
and so
° 2 = g tanh1 kITh = g ’I-
—
k ■> d(gn/h) _ Sdr; (4.7)
do
dk Щ /h ) *df
Thus equation (4.4) can be written

(4.8)
8 \ T) drlJ
Substituting in equation (4.1) we have

(4.9)
P8 П [ I \ V d?)7 J »)
After simplification we obtain
a3 1
df = —t —[ F d l ^ - ^ + d F m _ i V (410)
Pg 3 П 4/ \d»? П /.
o f which the integral is
os d (4.11)
? = — F ~r (i l
PgJ dr? \ S)
1052

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 223

see Appendix A. But from equations (2,9) and (4.3)
E da2 Eg dn
F= (4.12)
2а дк 2a d£ '
Therefore

2pg2 d£
and on using (2.6) we obtain

7.
2 smh 2kh (4-14)
the desired result. Since the right-hand side of (4.14) is always negative, we have in
general a wave set-down.
In shallow water (kh <C 1) equation (4.14) becomes

г = . (4.15)
^ Ah v 1

5. Waves in a two-fluid system

We shall now extend the previous results to include the more general situation
when the fluid in the bottom boundary layer is of a different density p' and kinematic
viscosity v' to that in the rest of the wave.
Since the Stokes layer at the bottom is driven essentially by the horizontal pressure
gradient on its upper side, the fluid velocities within the layer are similar to that
in a boundary layer of density p, except that they are reduced in magnitude by a
factor p/p'. The vertical scale of the motion will be changed by a factor (i//i>)1/2-
By continuity, there will be an extra vertical velocity just outside the boundary layer
of order (p /p 1— 1)qk&' which will modify the wave motion above the layer by an
amount of order qkS' only. To lowest order in kS, q in equation (2.7) is replaced by
(p/p')q and &is replaced by S' —(v'/v)l,2S. Instead of equation (2.12) we now have
D = \p 'a (p /p ')2q2S‘ (5.1)
to lowest order. In the energy balance equation there will be an additional term of
order (p‘ —p)g(dh/dx)US‘ arising from the energy required to propel the denser fluid
up the slope, but since we assume dh/dx to be very small this term can be neglected.
Similarly, in equation (3.3) the expression for the mass-transport velocity in the
boundary layer becomes

U'B = -P /£,)2‘?2 (5 - 8eH!+',)/s’ cos(z + h)/S' + 3 ^ 2u+h)/s'). (5.2)

In equation (3.4) the vertical gradient of the mass-transport velocity when z = 0 is

now (p/p')2q2/lcS' and hence in equation (3.5) we find for the mean bottom stress

г. . (5.3)

Comparing equations (5.1) and (5.3) we see that D =czg as before. Hence we can
still combine the energy and momentum equations and the integral (4.14) is still valid.
Note that equation (4.15) seems to answer one of our original questions. For, if
the wave amplitude a tends to zero at the shoreline (or, more precisely if acr2/g —►())
 1053

224 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
and if the wave does not break, implying that a /h is always bounded, then it follows
from equation (4.15) that
f = -Ja (a/A ) -» 0 (5.4)
at the shoreline. In other words, the wave set-up does indeed tend to zero. However,
we have not yet shown the hypothesis a(cr2/g )-* 0 to be consistent with all of our
other assumptions, in particular that S'/h -C 1.

6. The wave amplitude

To determine the variation of the wave amplitude a in a particular instance we
must return to equation (2.14) which, when D is given by (5.1), may be written
d
-a ( \ + Ш )
dx к \ sinh2£/i J
In shallow water, that is when kh < 1, this reduces to

± f 2*2] (6 .2)
tLt \ к ) h
and since in shallow water it = a / ( g A ) l/2 we have
d /.2,1/24 ( P / p 'W c r S '
b {a h ----- 2 ^ h ~ - (6J)
In the inviscid case when S' = 0 the right-hand side vanishes and we recover Green’s
law
a cc fc-1/4 (6.4)
for waves entering shallow water.
In the general case when S' Ф 0 let us assume for simplicity that the bottom slope
s is constant. Then we have

(6-5)

and equation (6.3) becomes

<S6)
where

P g l 2S (6-7)
If С is assumed to be a constant, we find, by substituting a2hl/2 —y, that equation
(6.6) can be integrated to give

a2 = ( 6 .8)

where 5 is a constant, to be determined by the initial conditions at some depth h —ho-

Note that as A—»oo, so the right-hand side of (6.8) tends to zero.
To avoid breaking, we are interested in the maximum value of the parameter a/h.
Writing l=*a/h we have from equation (6.8)
( Д А ) 2 = (А0/ й ) 5/2ex p (—С [ h ~ l/2 - A0- 1/2)). (6.9)
1054

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 225

hJh0

F ig u re 1. P lo ts o f (a) th e re la tiv e w a v e a m p litu d e a n d (b) th e w a v e s te e p n e s s a s g iv e n

by the solution (6.8).
 1055

226 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
But the maximum value of Л_5/2ехр(-СЛ~1/2) is (5/Се)5, occurring when Ch~,/2 = 5.
So the maximum value Amax is given by

(W A o ) 2 = (5 C 2/C e)5ехр(С/л;/2). (6.10)

Graphs of a/ao and of /„//„o corresponding to equations (6.8) and (6.9) are shown
in figures 1(a) and 1(b) respectively, for given values of the parameter C /h\j1 and
C0/h'0/2. It will be seen that for values of C /h\j2 greater than 1 the wave height
diminishes monotonically as the depth h diminishes, and for values of C /h ]017 greater
than 5 the wave steepness A also decreases monotonically.

7. Waves over a rippled sea bed

The question now is, what value should we assume for the boundary-layer thickness
5'? From a practical viewpoint the most interesting situation is when the bottom is
covered with sand ripples. From both laboratory measurements of the damping of
an oscillatory flow over steep sand ripples (Carstens, Nielson & AJtinbilek 1969)
and from numerical calculations using a vortex-shedding technique (Longuet-Higgins
1981) it appears that the mean drag coefficient CD over steep sand ripples is generally
of order 0.1 (see Appendix B). The consequent rate of dissipation is comparable to
that in an oscillatory Stokes layer, provided that <5' is of order 0.16b, where 2b is
the horizontal excursion of a fluid particle associated with the wave motion, that is
b —als\nhkh \ see equations (B6) and (B7). Hence in equation (6.7), instead of taking
&' as constant, it may be more appropriate to assume that

smh kh
where a is now the local wave amplitude and Я is a constant of order 0.08. Then in
shallow water we have
г' = 2 Р ^ - = 2/> a(8/h)- (7.2)
kh a
and equation (6.6) becomes simply

[13)
Substituting a2hi/2 = y as before we obtain

g . e& e =^
or
y -3/2d>- = Q h -^ d h . (7.5)
Hence
y~l,2 = \Q h - 5'4 + B, (7.6)
where B\ is an arbitrary constant. The last equation can be written

- = lQ h -' + B2h l'< (7.7)

or more conveniently
a = | < r 1A /(l + *j(*/*o)s/4). (7-8>
1056

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 227

Uh0

h/h0
F i g u r e 2. P lo ts o f ( a ) th e re la tiv e w a v e a m p litu d e a n d (fc) th e w a v e s te e p n e s s a s g iv e n
b y th e s o lu tio n (7 .9 ).
 1057

228 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
The arbitrary constant is to be chosen so as to satisfy the initial condition that
a —a0 when A= A0. Equation (7.7) can also be written as
a 5 h /h 0
<*0 C
1*00//
'‘о 1 + B ( h / h Q) W ( 7 ‘9 )

so that on writing a/ao = h/ho —1 we find

B~ ^ ~ L (7'" "
The solution thus depends essentially on the value of the parameter C o / h \ j 2. From
equations (6.7) and (7.2) this is given by

rc o/"0
i h ]/7 - 2 P p a° ■ nill
(7-11)
s p ho
Using equation (7.9), the functions a/ao and k / h = (a/A)/(a0/A0) are plotted against
h / h 0 in figure 2 for given values of Co/h'0/2. Comparing the curves with those in
figure 1 we see that qualitatively they are very similar.
In particular, the wave amplitude a, given by equation (7.9), is a maximum when

(А/ A0)5/4 = —7-----^ ----- (7.12)

5 / ( C 0/ O - 1
provided Co/h'0/ 2 < 5 , but this maximum lies in the range 0 < h < h 0 only when
Co/h1^ 2 < 1. If Co/Hq > 1, then a/aa decreases monotonically towards zero as the
depth diminishes. In the limit as A/Ao —*0 we have

- ~ — £тд(*/*о). (7.13)
С о /Л Г
On the other hand the relative wave steepness, given by
X a/h 5 1
(7 14)
Ло ao/Ao Co/h'J2 i + B(h/h0y/*'
always decreases monotonically as the depth diminishes provided that В < 0, that is
Co/hX2 > 5. (7.15)
When Co/hl0/2 = 5 then B —0 and Я/Яо = 1, a constant. The criterion (7.15) is quite
similar to that found for the model of § 6 (in which S' was assumed uniform) despite
the different analytic form of the solution.
The inequality (7.15) suggests that there will certainly be no wave breaking at the
upper surface of the sea if Co/h]J2 > 5, or from equation (7.11)

—
5 -p~ h0
Г >5 (7J6)
hence

5 p' h0 ( 7 - l 7 )

Since 2P/5 = 0.032, p / p '< 1 and 4a0 (i.e. twice the significant wave height) is less
than 0.83 A0 (the limiting height of a solitary wave) we have
j < 0.032 x 0.21 = 6 x КГ3 (7.18)
1058

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 229

I
Co

hiha

F ig u r e 3. P l o t o f th e r e la tiv e s e t- d o w n , a s g iv e n b y e q u a t i o n (7.20).

as a maximum value of the bottom slope if breaking at the surface is to be always

avoided.
The corresponding wave set-down is given by equation (4.15), so that the relative
wave set-down, namely

11to = = (e /« o )(A A > ). (7.19)

is found as the product of (7.12) and (7.13), namely

2
h /h 0
C/Co (7.20)
( cCo/AT
o / C 2)У [1
I + В(й/А0)5/4]
This has a maximum value in the range 0 < h < h o provided that Co/hg2 <3; see
figure 3. But if C o / ho 2 > 3 then f/fo always diminishes towards shallower water.
The ratio \ / h is also of some interest since for the validity of the assumptions this
should be small. From equation (7.1) we find

K/h _ (a/ар)2 = / a / h \ 1 (7.21)

la! ho (Л/Ло)2 \a o /h )
This is plotted in figure 4. It is in fact the square of the quantity plotted in figure 2(b).
When Cq//!q/2 > 5 it always diminishes towards the shoreline.
 1059

230 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

h/h0
F i g u r e 4. T h e w a v e s e t- d o w n f a s a p r o p o r tio n o f th e t o ta l d e p th h, re la tiv e
to th e v a lu e a t А = Л о .

8. Л practical example
As an example consider the observations made by Herbers et al. (2000) of swell
approaching the coast of North Carolina. A brief indication of the depth profile
across the shallow continental shelf (as accurately as can be read from figure 1 of
Herbers et al. 2000) is given in table 1. Here x is the distance of a station from
the shoreline and h is the local depth. The value of a 7h/g is calculated from the
representative values of the wave frequency / = 2n/a and then kh is found from the
dispersion relation (2.6). At stations A and В it can be seen that the shallow-water
approximation kh = a (h /g )l/2 is roughly applicable.
Let us then apply the model to the waves between Station В (h = 20 m) and Station
A (h — 12m), assuming that the waves are two-dimensional and that their direction
is normal to the coastline. From figure 6 of Herbers et al. (2000) the measured swell
variance at Station В on October 19, 1994 (Julian day 292) was about 1000 cm2,
corresponding to a significant wave height 2ao = 4 * (1000)1/l2cm = 1.26 m. Thus we
have
Л0 = 2 0 т , a0 = 0.65 m. (8.1)
The peak frequency of the waves was 0.07 Hz (see their figure 7). The mean gradient
s of the sea bed between Stations A and В was 1.3 xl0~3. From equation (7.11),
assuming 2Я = 0.16 and p /p' = 0.8, we have then

Co/ С 2 = 3.2. (8.2)

1060

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 231

a2h/g kh
S ta tio n z (k m ) h (m ) / = 0 .1 0 0.07 0.1 0 0.07 2 a (m ) a/h
A 1.5 12 0.48 0.24 0.75 0.51 1.40 0058
В 8 20 0.80 0.40 1.03 0.68 1.26 0032
С 16 26 1.04 0.52 1.23 0.79 1.38 0.026
Ы 92 47 1.88 0.94 1.96 1.15 2.37 0.025

T a b l e 1. Data fro m figures 1 and 2 of Herbers et al. (2 0 0 0 ).

The relative increase in the theoretical wave steepness a / h would therefore be

5/(Co//iJ/2) = 1-6 (8.3)
compared to the observed increase, namely

S i - *
Between Station A and the coastline (jc = 0) the mean bottom slope s is substantially
greater: .v = 8 x 10-3. Thus C0/ h l0/2 rises to 0.9, and 5/(C0/ h l0/2)~ 5 A . Hence 2a /h
would have been as high as 0.6, which would lead probably to wave breaking. No
wave measurements shorewards of Station A are reported by Herbers et al. (2000),
so no direct comparison with observation can be made in this case. Nevertheless
from figure 2 of their paper it is clear that on several occasions during the 100-day
period of observation the significant wave height was of order 0.15 times the values
quoted in table 1. Then la /h would have been less than 0.1. In such situations the
waves would be unlikely to break and the set-down, given by equation (5.4), would
be negligibly small.

9. Discussion
One of the assumptions in the above theoretical model is that the thickness &' of the
boundary layer is everywhere small compared to the mean depth h. Let us examine
whether this assumption is justified. From equation (7.2) we have in general
( o f h yfi a
S'
0 2 P -' ' - (9.1)
h a h
where a = 2 n f is the radian frequency of the waves. From the data of table 1 we
find, at Station A, that
^ = 0.017. (9.2)
ho
But from equation (9.1) we also have
8‘/ h 1 a/ h
(9.3)
S'o/ho (h /Ло)|/2 До/ ho
Hence if S'/h > e, say, we must have
a! h - C / t / t \l/2
' -Ah/ho)''2. (9.4)
до/ Ло 0.017
The critical depth at which &'/h = t can be found as the intersection of the
curve Y = X/Xо in figure 2(b) (corresponding to Co/h'Q/2 = 0.90) with the curve
 1061

232 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
K = (e/0.017)(/i//i0),/2. If for example we take e =0.2 we find h /h Q=0.15, and since
Ao = 12m, then Л= 1.8т. In other words, in order that the ratio S'/h shall exceed
0.2, the depth h must be less than 1.8 m.
Shorewards of this point the present theory cannot strictly be applied. Nevertheless,
provided that the waves are low enough not to break, we may expect qualitatively
similar results.

10. Conclusions
From §6 to §9 we conclude that it is indeed possible for wave energy to be almost
completely dissipated by turbulence or friction in the bottom boundary layer before
reaching the shoreline, and that this is favoured if the bottom slope s is of order
10-3 or less. In the field observations by Herbers et al. (2000) on the continental
shelf of North Carolina, the wave energy reaching the shoreline would nearly always
have been small, and the corresponding wave set-up would have been negligible.
However during the event of October 19, 1994, the waves were probably breaking at
the shoreline, producing significant set-up.

I am indebted to Professor R. Guza for posing the initial question which led to this
investigation. The theoretical analysis in §2 to §6 was stimulated by a question from
Dr M.J. Buckingham at a physical oceanography seminar at the Scripps Institution
on November 19, 2003.

Appendix A. Proof of equation (4.11)

We shall prove equation (4.11) by showing that the derivative of the right-hand
side of equation (4.11) is equal to the right-hand side of (4.10). Thus

(Al)

where

(A 2)

Then equation (4.10) follows.

Appendix B. Energy dissipation by flow over sand ripples

To estimate the dissipation of energy by wave motion over a rippled sand bed we
make use of the laboratory measurements by Carstens et al. (1969), supported by the
theoretical calculations of Longuet-Higgins (1981).
1062

Wave set-up in shoaling water with a rough sea bed 233

TTD
o b s. th e o r.
(a ) co arse 0.13 0.12
(,b ) m e d iu m 0.0 7 0.09
(c) fine 0.05 0.07

T a b l e 2. M e d i a n v a lu e s o f t h e d r a g c o e f fic ie n t C p .

The instantaneous drag coefficient CD may be defined by

x/p' = CDV\U\ (Bl )
where U denotes the horizontal velocity just outside the turbulent boundary layer.
The corresponding energy dissipation D, averaged over a cycle, is given by
D /p' = CDU2\U\ (B 2)
and in case CD varies over a cycle we write this as CD i / 2|С/1 so defining the mean
drag coefficient by
T ^ ^ D / р 'Щ . (B 3)
When U varies sinusoidally
U = U0sm(at +ф) (B 4)
to lowest order, then iP = (4/3n)U^ and equation (B2) becomes
4_
D /p' = (B 5)
3rc'
Table 2 shows typical (i.e. median) values of Cp obtained by Carstens et al.
(1969) for three different grades of sand. The right-hand column gives corresponding
theoretical values calculated by Longuet-Higgins (1981). As a representative value we
may take £ ^ = 0.1.
Compare this model to the Stokes layer of §2 in which the mean dissipation D
was given by equation (2.12). Writing p‘ and S' for p and 5 and q for U0 we find that
equations (2.12) and (B2) are equivalent provided that

S' = 0.1 x — — = 0.16b (B6)

3n a
where
= — t (B7)
a sinhM
is the amplitude of the horizontal displacement of the fluid just outside the boundary
layer.
As a check, note that the horizontal excursion 2b is typically about double the
length, or pitch L, of the ripple (see Longuet-Higgins 1981, table 2) and that numerical
simulations show the vortices thrown off by the ripple rising to levels comparable to
L. Since the thickness of the boundary layer is of order 55', the two estimates of 5'
are in rough agreement.

REFEREN CES

Ba g no ld , R . A. 1947 J. Inst. Civ. E ngrs 27, 457.

C a r s t e n s , M . R., N i e l s o n , F. M . & A l t i n b i l e k , H. D . 1969 B ed fo rm s g e n e ra te d in the la b o ra to ry
u n d e r o s c illa to ry flow. Coastal Engng Res. Center, Fort Beluoir, VA. Tech. Mem. 28.
234 M . S. Longuet-Higgins
H e r b e r s , Т. H . C., H e n d r i c k s o n , E. J & O 'R e illy , W. C. 2000 P ro p a g a tio n o f swell acro ss a w ide
c o n tin e n ta l shelf. J. Geophys. Res. 105, 1 9 7 2 9-19737.
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. 1953 M a s s tr a n s p o r t in w a te r w av es Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Land. A 245,
5 3 5 -5 8 1 .
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. 1957 T h e m e c h an ic s o f the b o u n d a ry -la y e r n e a r th e b o tto m in a p ro g ressiv e
w a v e (A p p e n d ix to a p a p e r b y R. С. H . R u ssell a n d J. D . C . O so rio ). Proc. 6th Conf. on
Coastal Engng, M iami, pp. 18 4 -1 9 3 . A S C E .
L o n g u e t-H ig g in s , M . S. 1981 O sc illa tin g flow o v e r steep s a n d rip p les. J. Fluid Mech. 107, 1-35.
L o n g u e t-H ig g in s , M . S. 1983 W av e set-u p , p e rc o la tio n a n d u n d e rto w in th e s u r f zone. Proc. R.
Soc. Lond A 390, 2 8 3 -2 9 1 .
L o n g u e t-H ig g in s , M . S. 2004 M a s s tra n s p o rt by s h o a lin g w a te r w av es ov er a ro u g h sea bed.
W orkshop on Free Surface Water Waves, Fields Institute. Univ. o f Toronto, Canada, June 14-18
2004, A b s tra c ts , p. 1.2.
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. & S t e w a r t , R . W. 1962 R a d ia tio n stre ss a n d m a ss tra n s p o rt in g ra v ity
w aves, w ith a p p lic a tio n to “ s u rf-b e a ts .” J. Fluid Mech. 13, 4 8 1 -5 0 4 .
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. & S t e w a r t , R . W. 1963 A n o te o n w a v e set-u p . J. Mar. Res. 21, 4 -1 0 .
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M . S. & S t e w a r t , R . W. 1964 R a d ia tio n stresses in w a te r w a v es; a p h y sica l
d is c u s s io n , w ith a p p lic a tio n s. Deep-Sea Res. 11, 5 2 9 -5 6 2 .
R u s s e l l , R . С. H . & O s o r io , J. D . C. 1957 E x p e rim e n ta l In v e s tig a tio n o f d rif t profiles in a closed
c h a n n e l. Proc. 6th Conf. on Coastal Engng, Miami, p p . 171-193. A S C E .
S a v i l l e , T. 1961 E x p e rim e n ta l d e te rm in a tio n o f w ave set-u p . Proc. 2nd Tech. Conf. on Hurricanes,
M iam i Beach. FL. U S Dept, o f Commerce. Nat. Hurricane Res. Proj. Rep. 50, pp. 2 4 2 -2 5 2 .
 1065

In trod u ctory N otes for P art I

I. N o n lin ea r In teraction s in S u rface W aves

P ap ers II to 14

Surface gravity waves, in the form o f swell, tend to travel with their own
characteristic phase speed without any appreciable interaction, but this remains
true only if the surface slope amplitude ak is sufficiently small. O.M. Phillips
(I960) was the first to point out that in deep water, four different trains of waves
with horizontal wavenumbers ( i = 1 to 4) may interact if they are related so
that k\ ± к 2±к-$±кА= 0 and also 6\ ± Q2± $3* &4 ~ 0, where 0/ = g|£,-|, and with
the corresponding selection o f signs. The coupling coefficients between the four
waves were first found by K. Hasselmann (1961), who carried the necessary
algebra to the 6th order in ak. In order to verify this complicated analysis, the
present writer performed some experiments in the simplest non-trivial case, when
all four waves were propagated in the same direction. No detectable interaction
was observed. This turned out to be because, in this special case, the interaction
coefficient was identically zero. In the next simplest case, which is the subject
o f Paper II, two o f the wavenumbers k\ and k2 are assumed to be equal and a
third, &3, is at right-angles to k \ . It was proposed to carry out an experiment in
a rectangular wave basin to verity the prediction. Paper 12 describes such an
experiment. As predicted, a wave with wavenumber кл = 2 к \+ к 2 was indeed
generated in the wave basin, growing in steepness across the wave basin at the
rate predicted.
Paper 13 is a companion to Paper 14, and points out that when the four
wavenumbers are equal in pairs, the second pair o f wavenumbers induces a small
change in the phase-speed o f the first pair. This is important when considering
other nonlinear effects. (Note an error in the last line o f equation (2.8): there
should be a factor 2 multiplying k2cos2 /2 0 sin 2 / г в . This error was unfortunately
propagated to some later equations in the paper.)
Lastly in this section, Paper 14 discusses the slow evolution o f a sea state
as described by the theory o f Hasselmann (1962, 1963) but in an important
special case, namely when the wave-energy is concentrated near a single peak
in the spectrum. Here, the basic equations are derived in a much simpler way
than previously, using an evolution equation due to Davey and Stewartson
(1974). It is found that the energy tends to flow away from the spectral peak
in two characteristic directions. This suggests the development of a bi-modal
distribution o f the wave energy with respect to the direction o f propagation.
I. Nonlinear Interactions in Surface Waves
 1069

R eprinted, w ith ou t ch a n ge o f p a gin a tion fr o m the

Jo u rn a l of F luid Mechanics, volum e 12, part 3, p p . 321-332, 1962

Resonant interactions between two trains

of gravity waves

(R eceived 20 Ju n e 1Э61)

In a previous paper, Phillips (1960) showed that two or three trains of gravity
waves may interact so as to produce a fourth (tertiary) wave whose wave-number
is different from any of the three primary wave-numbers k „ k2, k3, and whose
amplitude grows in time. Such resonant interactions may produce an appreciable
modification of the spectrum of ocean waves within a few hours. In this paper,
by a slightly different method, the interaction is calculated in detail for the
simplest possible case: when two o f the three primary wave-numbers are equal
(k3 —kx).
It is found that, when k, and k 2 are parallel or antiparallel, the interaction
vanishes unless k , = Generally, if 0 denotes the angle between k, and k 2,
the rate of growth of the tertiary wave with time is a maximum when в Ф 17°;
the rate of growth with horizontal distance is a maximum when 0 4=24°. The
calculations show that it should be possible to detect the tertiary wave in the
laboratory.

1. Introduction
In the first-order theory of gravity waves of small amplitude, two or more
simple sine-waves which each individually satisfy the condition of constant
pressure at the free surface together satisfy the same condition, so that the wave
trains are propagated independently and without mutual interaction. I f now
squares and products of the velocities are taken into account the waves are found
to interact. To the second order, the interaction produces only a small modi­
fication to the motion, which remains bounded in time. However, Phillips
(1960) has discovered that in the third approximation it is possible for a transfer
of energy to take place from three primary waves (of wave-numbers kj, k 2, k 3)
to a fourth wave (of wave-number k4) in such a way that the amplitude of the
fourth wave increases linearly with time. Thus, although the fourth-wave
amplitude at first is very small (being of the third order) it may in time grow so
as to be comparable with the three primary waves. The condition for this is
that the wave-numbers k t , k 2, ka, k 4 and frequencies era, <rt, <r3, each satisfy
the relation for a free wave:
(1 .1 )

(1 .2 )
and th at a x ± o-2 ± _ _ _
with the same combination o f signs in each case.
1070

322 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
I f such interactions do occur in the oceans they m ay produce a considerable
modification in the ocean w ave spectrum, in a m atter o f a few hours. Indeed
Hasselmann (1961) has computed the rate o f transfer o f energy within a con­
tinuous w ave spectrum due to this kind o f mechanism.
The phenomenon is so intriguing, and its possible efFects o f such consequence,
th at an attem pt to verify it in the laboratory seems desirable. In Phillips’s
original paper only the order of magnitude o f the interaction was estimated, and
a calculation o f the coupling factor was not given. The purpose of the present
paper is to carry the calculations to the point where a numerical estimate can be
made of the amplitude of the tertiary w ave in the simplest possible case, namely
when two of the wave-numbers k lf k 2, k 3 are equal. The computation shows th at
the tertiary w ave might well be observed in some experimental w ave basins at
present available.
I t is also thought th at the simplified method o f calculation, which differs in
certain respects from that o f Phillips or Hasselmann, m ay be o f interest in itself.

2. G e n e ra l e q u atio n s
The presence of a small vo rticity (Longuet-Higgins 1953) will not affect the
results to the degree of approxim ation considered, and so it is permissible to
assume the existence of a potential ф for the velocity u: thus
u = V0, V 20 = 0 , (2 . 1 )
in incompressible flow. Let z be the vertical co-ordinate; then, at the free surface
z == £, the pressure being constant, we have from Bernoulli’s equation

+ u*«0 (*-£), (2.2)

the arb itrary function o f t being absorbed into ф. The condition th at (z —t)
vanish following a particle gives
Ч _дф + ш э с M d j\ 0
31 dz \Эх dx dy dy)
B y operating on equation (2.2) by DjDt (differentiation following the motion)
and then subtracting g times equation (2.3), we find that

( 3 +!'&)+li(UI|+“-V(4",)- 0 <2-4)
Now let the left-hand sides of the above three equations be expanded in Taylor
series about z = 0 to give

»«+[¥+^ +K,S i + -]+[i"’+4 (Su!)+- ] - 0 (г- 0)-

(2 .2 a)
э | _ ш & ф х & ф и / ^ э с , з ^ э п ^ 3 f \ , l = 0

31 I Sz J 0z2 dz3 " ‘J [\Эа; dx дуду) \

v dxczdx ciydzdy) j
(z = 0), (2 .3 a )
 1071

Resonant interactions between two trains of gravity waves 323

+ [ I (u2) + C9 ^ (u8) + - ] + [ u V ( ^u2) + - ] = 0 (z = 0)- (2'4 a)

In these equations we m ay substitute the formal expressions

Ф = (a0io + M » ) + (a V2o + a A *n + A *o2)+ ---.

u = (au 10+ /9u01) + (a 2u 20+ a/?un + /?Ч102) + .... (2.5)
С = («Cio ■
+ /*£ei) + (“ 2c20+ «/?Cn+ /52CoS) + •••,
where ссф1Вand {$фт are to represent the two intersecting wave trains, in the first
approximation, a and [i being independent small quantities proportional to the
surface slopes. The remaining terms of the series represent wave interactions,
and m ay be found by equating coefficients of a}ft in the various equations. Thus,
from (2 . 1 ), we obtain

“ « = v * ,. = 0 { i,j = 2 >-> ■ (2 6 )
In (2.2a), (2.3a) and (2.4a) the tenns in a give

, ( „ + 3- P - o . д£ - -г £ - ° . <M >

and the terms in /? give similar equations for 0 O1. In equation (2.4a) the terms
in a 2 and a/9 give respectively

/^Фго Э&Л Э /д2ф10 дф1В\ 3 _

b ^ + ?i r j +&e& l ^ +ff^ + a (Uie) 0>
( ггФ п , п дФп\ , г 3 (д^ 014. л 4- Г 9 Z^ 10+ о ЭМ + 3 (2U и 1 - О
Г а Г + Ь°дг \ ~ Ж + 9 ~ ь ) + £о1& Г Р ~ +£?-г г ) + 9n 3Ul°-Uoi; - °-
(2 .8)
Since ф10, for example, satisfies Laplace’s equation (2 .6 ) we have

dz*\ dt1 9 dz f W dy*f \dl* 0 fo 1

by the third of equation (2 . 7 ). It follows that in the equations for ф21 such tenns
can be omitted. Thus in (2.4a) the coefficient o f a 2/? gives

(д ^ дфгЛ 3 (Рф^ дф^ iP b + n

[ dt2 + 9 ~%Г}+ ^го dz\ dt2 g Cz ) dz v 3I2 g dz

. r i d Ъ ц .Л № + С K d - ^ +ad M
+ ^11f e \ W +a dz ; + Sl03z\ dt2 +g
3 Э2 ^
+ gi (2u 20. U„ + 2uu . U10) + f 10 (2u 10. u01) 4- £10 g2 ^ (u io)

+ UioV(u10.u01) + u01.V(£ii20) = (2Л°)

E q u a tio n s (2.7), (2.8) an d (2 .10) are a ll to be satisfie d w hen z = 0.
1072

324 M. S. Longitei-Higgins
3. Deep water
W e shall now assume th a t the w ater is deep for the first- and second-order
waves, i.e. th at e.~kih, e~fc«h, e~kh < 1, where = |k,|, &2 = |k2|and A' = Щ—kg|.
As yet, no assumption is made about the third-order waves.
The equations (2.7) for the first approximation ф10 are satisfied by the well
known solution
£io = Ojcos r/rla фи = о-! fcf1 e^i*sin rfrv (3.1)

where for convenience we w rite

Jrx = k i - x - ^ jt , (3.2)
provided th a t cr\ = gk^. (3.3)
W e have then

dz \ +g Ъъ ) дгг + 9 dz J * (3.4)
u *0 = a lc rle ^ ,

so th a t u|Qis independent of x, у and /.

The first of equations (2.8) is now satisfied identically by

Фго “ Фгo(0i (3-6)

corresponding to the fact th at the second-order velocities vanish for a single

irrotational w ave in deep water:

” 20 = V ^20 = 0- О-в)
(The second-order surface elevation does not vanish, however.)
The velocity potential ф01 o f the second w ave is defined by equations similar
to (3.1), (3.2) and satisfies relations similar to (3.3), (3.4). Moreover we find th a t

Uu U,i = а 1аг(т1(тг e*i+k»>[cos2 \d cos (\jrx- y^) - sin2 \d cos ( ^ + ^ 2)]. (3 -7)

where в is the angle between the wave-numbers kxand k2. Thus, from the second
o f equations (2 .8), we have

- ( ^ r + 9 ^ ) = ^h.0.2 crl а г[{<г1 - o 2) cos2 sin

~ ( <Г1 + <тг) ®in2 £0 sin + ^*)]j (3-8)

which is satisfied (together, with Laplace’s equation) by

фп = 4 e |ki_ki'Bsin(^ir1 —т/г2) —.Be|ki+k>,tflin(\ir1 + ^r2), (3.9)

where A = '
((Ti —(rt) * - f f l k i - k , !
(3 .1 0 )
_ 2&1a1crxа\{<тt + <r2) sin* \в
(o‘i + o-i )*-S'|ki + ka| ‘
 1073

Re&cmant interactions between two trains of gravity waves 326

The equation (2 . 10 ) for ф21 ia now seen to be very greatly simplified. In fact,
omitting those terms which are identically zero, we have
/3202j Э0 аЛ 0 /о2фп 00ц\ 3 З2 .

- Ы ~ + 3 - з г ) = ^ s i ( l / + H i p ) + ш ( 2 u “ ■U l o ) + ^ Ш (2 U l0 ■U o i )

+ u10.V(u10.u01)+ u01.V(£u50), (3.11)

to be satisfied at z = 0 .

The terms on the right-hand side of (3.11) when evaluated at z = 0 are as

follows:
3 /э у ц дфи\

= - 2a?a2cTj ^ [(a-j- a 2) |kx- k2|cos2 £6 sin ( f x- i/r2) cos

- (o-j + <r2) Ikx+ k2j sin2 ^9 sin + ^ 2) cos (3.12)
| ( 2 u u -U10)
= 2Аа1ош
1 jkx—kjj [c r2 sin2 sin \jr2 —(2a,1 —<r2) cos2 sin (2^ —^ 2)]
—2Ba1cr1 |kL+ k^j [cr2sin 2 4/? sin ^ 2 - (20-j + <r2) cos2 £/2 sin ( 2 ^ + ^ 2)], (3.13)

^105 i l (2Ulo‘Uol) = +
- (^i + sin2 sin (#, + f 2) cos ir J , (3.14)

Uio-V^io-Uoi) = afojjo-f^^fcj + fcjjcos2id sin 2 £0 ) sin ^ 2

+ k2cos4 \в sin (2^j - yi^) — sin 1 $6 sin(2 ^ 1 + ^'2)]) (3.16)
u«-V(£u|0) = a*a2(r\(r2\ & m f2, (3.16)

where a and /? are the angles between (kj —kj) and kt, and between (kj + k2)
and —kj, respectively (see figure 1 ).

4. The resonant interaction

The right-hand side of (3.11) m ay be expressed as the sum of terms propor­
tional to sin ( \jr 1 ± xjr2 + ^j). In the present calculation we are interested only in
the terms proportional to sin (2ifrl —ф2)- Omitting the others, we have

“ ( l T + ? % ) = K ain W * ~ *•>> (4’ 4

1074

326 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

where К = cos2 — + |k1 —k 2|} + c o s 2

_ 4 a-3(o-1 - t 72)( 2 o-I - o - 2) 1к а —k 2|со a2 jg 'l
(«Гх—«Га)*— |kj —k 2| J‘
I f now we have (2<r1 - a 2)2 = g |2k j - k,|, (4.3)
then a solution to equation (4.1) and of Laplace’s equation is
Kt
~ ^ 21 = 2(2o-' - t r ) el2kl-ll!!'2 cos (2^ i ~ f t ) > (4 -4 )

provided th at e-iski-if,ift ^ l 5 i,e . the wave represented by ф21 is effectively in

deep water.
Now (4.4) represents a w ave whose amplitude grows in time. B ut from (2.2a),
on equating coefficients of a 2# we have

ЯЬг + Ц ^-ЯФ ыФ ы.Ф п.Ф п). (4-5)

which is bounded in time. Hence

~ “ J ^ ^ 3bl (2^ " ^ (4'6)

Thus the amplitude of this w ave is simply iT(/20.

5. The period equation

Equation (4.3), together w ith the relations

° 1 = 1? <r| = з |k 2|, (5.1)

are together a special case o f equations (1.1). W e shall now investigate the
relationship between k j and k 2 which these imply.
It is convenient to write
k 2 —k 1 = k /, cr2 —tr1 = <r/, (5-2)
so th at (5.1) and (4.3) become
а \ = я\К 1 K + 0-')2 = g |ki + k'|, (o-! —cr')2 = gr|kj —k'|. (5.3)
Since the angle between k x and k' is a (see figure 1 ), we have
(fTt + a ')4 = ^ [ k i + k 'l 2 = g2(fc! + &'2 + 2fc1 fc'cosa),'l
(o ^ -o -')4 = |кх—k'ja = g2(k\ + k ^ -2 k l k'oosa.),)
and so 7 i + 6 ir|cr' 2+ (7 '4 = g2(k\ + k'2),
< |
(5.5)
4erf cr' + 4сг1 £г'3 = дъ2кг к' cos a. j
On substituting cr\ = gk1 in the last two equations, we find
gk' = <T'(6<rf + <r'2)&, co sa= 2{crl + cr'2)j(rl (6crl + cr'2)i. (5.6)
We now write ° '7 (Ti = £•
 1075

Resonant interactions between two trains of gravity waves 327

so that
<rxf<Tx = 1 + g, (20 l - (rt)lcrj = 1 - g,
*i/*i = °V<>1 = (1 +£)2, |2k i—kgj/ij = (1 -£)*, (5.8)
i'/*i = gk’la l = flB + g*)», cos a = 2 (l + ^)/(6 + £2)i.
Since к'1кг is non-negative, we must take the positive or negative sign in the
square root according as g is positive or negative. W e have
(fc'/Aj) cos a = 2g(l+gs) = X, Л
(5.9)
( tf/ ij sin of = ±£[(8 + p ) ( l + 4g*)]l = Y,J
------------------ {<0

F igu re 2. Locus of kt, when k, is fixed.

and a plot of Y vs. X readily yields the figure-of-eight diagram obtained by

Phillips (I960), and shown in figure 2 . Positive values of £ correspond to points
on the right-hand loop, and negative values of £ to points on the left-hand loop.
The gradient of the curve at the centre point (g = 0) is
+ 1/V2 = ± tan 35° 16'. ( 6 . 10 )
The two end-points correspond to g = + J, i.e.
04/0-1 = I or h h l h = £ ° r i ( 6 . 11)
The angle в between k j and k a is found from figure 2 by noting that
fc2cos в = + k' cos a., (5.12)

and so (5.13)

Similarly, the angle в' between (2kj —k 2) and t , is given by

12kj —k 21 cos в' — kx—k' cos a (6.14)
1 —2£—2g3
and hence cos в' = , ( ! - * ) « (5.15)
|2kt—k4| '* (!-£)•
A plot of + в and ± в ' is shown in figure 3, for g ^ 0 . I f the sign of £is reversed,
the two curves are simply interchanged.
1076

328 M . S. L o n g u e t-H ig g in s

F ig u r e 3. Corresponding values of в and —в' as functions of when £ 3=0 .

6. Evaluation o f К
From equation (5.13) we have
(l + 2fl(2+g»)
cos2 W = (6 . 1)
2(1 + £ )2 '

and from (5.8) cos2 f x = M l + 2(1 + £*) (6 + ? И } . (6 .2)

On substituting these values, and others derived from (6 .8 ), into equation (4.2)
we find, after some reduction,

К — (dj ^i)2 (a2 k2) 1F(£), (6.3)

where m s ( 1 + И У 0 - Ф ) r x + ___ 1 1 ____ 1 . (6.4)

(i + £)3 L 6-(e+£*)*J
The amplitude o f the tertiary wave is given by

|£и| = \ K t g ~ ' = ( a l fcl ) 2 ( a 2 * 2) | ^ ( r 1- 1J ’ ( g ) ) ( 6. 6)

so that its ratio to the amplitude a^ o f the first w ave is

|£2il / a i = W i K ) ( ® A ) { o \ t ) F ( g ) .
(6 .6)
 1077

Eesonant interactions between two trains of gravity waves 329

When the two prim ary wave numbers are equal (k2 = kj), we have | = 0 and
F — 1 , so that
C21 = ^ * * 2^1 СГ^ВШ(fejX —cr^t). (6.7)

In this case only £21 can be interpreted as a contribution to the increase in

frequency of the prim ary wave (£,„ + £01) (see Phillips 1900). In the case £ = J,
when kj lies at the right-hand extrem ity of the figure-of-eight, we see from (6.4)
th at F = 0 . That is to say, in the only other case when the -waves k x and k, are
propagated in the same direction, the amplitude of the tertiary wave vanishes.
Similarly, when £ = — that is to say when k, lies at the left-hand end of the
figure-of-eight and the directions of k t and k j are opposite, then F abo vanishes.

F igube 4. The coupling function F , giving the time rate of growth of

the tertiary wave, under spacially uniform conditions.

A plot o f F vs. 6 is shown in figure 4. It will be seen that for £ < 0, i.e. on
the left-hand part of the figure-of-eight, the coupling is much greater than for
§ > 0. A maximum of F occurs at around в = 17° on the left-hand part of the
loop.
When the two primary waves are at right-angles, cos в vanishes and so £ is
the real root of „
2£a + 2£ + l = 0, (6 .8)
th at is to say
i = Й Ш - Д О Ч Н Л Н 1 »* = -0 -4 2 3 8 6 , (6.9)
a n d th e ra tio o f Cj to ггг is 1 : 0 -5 7 6 1 6 , o r 1-7 3 57 :1 . F ro m figure 4 w e h a v e th en

F[g) Ф 0 -3 12 . (6 .1 0 )
1078

330 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
7 . F in ite fe tch
Suppose th at the two w ave trains interact for an unlimited time, but over only
a finite distance D, measured in the direction of propagation of the tertiary wave.
Then it is necessary only to replace t in equation (6.5) by Dlca, where c0 is the
group-velocity of the tertia ry wave:

„ _ 9 _ ____ 9____ n ,v
2 (2cr, —<r2) 2* 1(1 -£ ) ' '
Thus £„ = (a A ) * (a, fc2) Л . (?(£), (7.2)
where Gf(g) = (l-g)F(g). (7.3)

F io tjk k 5. The coupling function O , g iv in g the space ra te of grow th of

the te r tia ry w ave, under ste ad y conditions.

I t is remarkable th at |£и |, as given by (7.2) depends only on the maximum slopes

of the two primary wave trains, the total distance D and the angle o f inter­
section (given by the parameter £).
The function G is shown plotted against в in figure 5. Like F, it is greater
over the left-hand part of the figure-of-eight (£ < 0 ), and has a maximum
(G = 1-32) at around в = 24°. W hen в = 90° (the two prim ary waves are at
right-angles), we see from figure 6 that

G = 0-442. (7.4)
 1079

Resonant interactions between two trains of gravity waves 331

8 . A p ro p o se d experim ent
In a rectangular basin, suppose that wave-makers are placed along two
adjacent sides A B and DA (see figure 6), and that beaches, or other efficient
wave absorbers, are placed along the other two side9. On the side AB let a wave
train o f frequency cr1 be generated, travelling directly across the tank, and
likewise on the side DA a wave of frequency er2.

F igure 6. The p attern of w av e crests in th e proposed experim ent.

Generally the two wave trains will excite no resonant response; but when the
frequencies are in the critical ratio 1 - 7 3 6 :1 a tertiary wave should be generated
travelling in a direction making 9° 24' with the direction of kj, and slightly
towards the second wave-maker (see figure 6 ); its amplitude should increase
linearly in the direction of propagation. The tertiary wave will be reflected from
the wave-maker a t the side of the tank, but the reflected wave will be appreciable
only in a narrow wedge-shaped zone as on the left o f figure 6 .f
There may of course be other non-linear effects (for example at the beaches)
which will give rise to frequencies (2 o 1 — cr2). However, risk of confusion with
any such effects m ay be eliminated by the following procedure. Let the frequency
of one prim ary wave (say <rt) be kept fixed while the frequency of the other is
slightly changed. One m ay expect that the amplitude of the tertiary wave will
be proportional to |sin(D.Sk)ID.Sk\, (8.1)
where Sk = £[(2^ —k g|—(2^ —<r2)2] and D is the distance over which the
interaction occurs.
| This reflexion could he elim in ated b y inclining the second w ave-m aker a t an angle of
ab out 80° to the first, instead of a t 90°.
10 8 0

332 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
Although the te rtia ry w ave m ay not be visible to the eye, it should be possible
to detect it b y a harmonic analysis o f a w ave record a t any fixed point over a
sufficient length o f time. For example, if D is 10 ft. and the maximum steepness
in each w ave train is 1/10, then equation (7.2) gives
|£21| = 0-442 x 10 x 1 0 - 3ft. = 0 0 5 in.,
which should be readily detectable.

I am indebted to D r Phillips for reading a first draft o f this paper.

REFERENCES
HASSELMAira, K . 1981 On th e non-linear energy transfer in a wave spectrum . Conf. on
Ocean W ave Spectra, Easton, Md, 1-4 M ay 1961. U .S. N at. Acad. Sci. Publ. (in
the Press).
LoNGTTET-HTGoras, M. S. 1 9 5 3 Mass transport in w ater waves. Phil. Trans. A, 2 4 5 ,
5 3 5 -8 1 .
P h il l ip s , О. M. 1960 On the dynam ics of unsteady grav ity waves of finite am plitude.
P a rt 1. The elem entary interactions. J . F luid Mech. 9, 193-217.

PRIN TED IN G REA T B R IT A IN AT TH E U N IV E R S IT Y P R E S S , CA M BRID G E

(BRO O K E CRUTCH I/EY. U N IV E R S IT Y p r in t e r )
 1081

R ep rin ted w ith ou t ch a n ge o f p a gin a tio n fr o m the

Jo u rn a l of F lu id M echanics, vo lu m e 12, p a rt 3, p p . 333-336, 1062

Phase velocity effects in tertiary wave interactions

By M . S. L O N G U E T -H I G G I N S
N atio n al In stitu te of O ceanography, W orm ley

and О. M. P H I L L I P S
D ep artm ent of Applied M athem atics and Theoretical P hysics, U n iversity of Cambridge

(R eceived 4 A ugust 1961)

I t is shown that, when two trains of waves in deep water interact, the phase
velocity o f each is modified by the presence of the other. The change in phase
velocity is of second order and is distinct from the increase predicted by Stokes
for a single wave train. When the wave trains are moving in the same direction,
the increase in velocity Дс2 of the wave with amplitude a2, wave-number кг
and frequency cr2 resulting from the interaction with the wave (Oj, kv (Г,) is given
by Дс2 = a\k1crv provided lcr < ic2. I f k1 > k2, then Дс2 is given by the same
expression multiplied by k jk v I f the directions of propagation are opposed,
the phase velocities are decreased by the same amount. These expressions are
extended to give the increase (or decrease) in velocity due to a continuous
spectrum o f waves all travelling in the same (or opposite) direction.

1. In tro d u c tio n
It has recently been shown (Phillips I960) that, in the third approximation
to the theory of gravity waves of small amplitude, certain unexpected effects
occur. For example, there exist sets of three prim ary wave trains which interact
to give a continuous transfer of energy to a fourth train whose amplitude in­
creases linearly with time. More recently, Longuet-Higgins (1962) calculated
explicitly the coupling constant when two of the three prim ary wave-numbers
coincide. In these two papers, attention was directed towards situations in
which the tertiary wave-number k4, say, is distinct from the three prim ary wave-
numbers k 1: k„ and k 3. This is sufficient to ensure that the interaction represents
a genuine energy transfer to a new component of the wave field. However, there
exist cases in which the wave-number k 4 o f the tertiary wave is the same as th at
of one of the prim ary waves, say k L. The present note is concerned with such
situations; it is shown below that tertiary waves of this kind are in quadrature
with the corresponding prim ary wave, so th at the result is not to produce a
transfer o f energy, but a modification of the phase velocity of the component with
wave-number k,.
Both these effects, the energy transfer and the phase-velocity changes, can be
attributed to a type of resonant interaction which occurs when the wave-numbers
are related by the equation
k i i k ^ k , ! ! ^ = 0, (1 . 1 )
1082

334 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and О. M. Phillips

and simultaneously the frequencies b y
o\ ± <r2 ± cr3 ± cr4 = 0 . ( 1 .2)
where th e same combination o f signs is to be taken in each relation and
( « = 1 . 2 , 3,4).
I f the te rtia ry wave-num ber k4 equals k „ one of the prim ary wave-numbers,
it is clear th at the resonance conditions ( 1 . 1 ) and ( 1 . 2 ) can be satisfied if k 2 = k 3;
th a t is, i f the four wave-numbers are equal in pairs. The authors believe th at this
is the moat general case which results in phase-velocity modifications, f The
increase in velocity o f a single w ave train a t the third-order approximation can
be considered as the case in which all the wave-numbers coincide.
The following section makes use o f the method developed by Longuet-Higgins
(1961). In the final section, the results are extended to the situation in which
a whole spectrum o f parallel wave-numbers is present.
The presence of a possible second-order vorticity is ignored in this paper, but,
to the third approximation, its influence on the phase velocity can be simply
superimposed on the effects considered here.

2. The phase velocity effect

I t w ill be convenient to refer directly to the equations derived by Longuet-
Higgins (1961), which will be identified b y the initials LH. The same notation
w ill be used. The boundary condition at the mean free surface for the velocity
potential resulting from the interaction of the two w ave trains is given by
equation (LH 3.11), i.e.

=^ 4 ( ^ 1+^ ) +I (2uu-u»)+^ ^ (2um-um)

+ uio ■V(Uio •U01) + u01. V(iuf0), (2.1 )
in which the water depth is assumed to be large compared w ith any of the w ave­
lengths involved, and all terms are taken at z = 0. Complete expressions for the
various terms on the right-hand side are given in (LH 3.12) to (LH 3.16); here
we are interested in the terms proportional to sin fa . Omitting the others, one
finds from these equations that

Sl° Wz +9l b ) = ~ *г) lk i “ к а| 0082 i e

+ (o"i + <rt) |k j + k s|sin 2 Щ sin fa , (2 . 2 )
О
^ ( 2 u u .u M) = 2a 1 <r 1 <r2[ J | k 1 - k 2|sin2^a + B|k 1 + k 2|sin2 ^/?]sin^2, (2.3)
32
^10 dzdt (2Ul° ’ U°i) = a i “ 2 £ri ^ i + i:a )(o'2 c0a(9- o'i ) 8 in f * . (2 -4 )
Uio-V(u io-Uoi) = в|а,о-|<га( ^ + А2соа2£0вш 2 |0)нш ^2, (2.5)
u 01.V($uf0) = afajtrfoVjfc! sin fa, (2 . 6 )
t I t is possible to h a v e k ( = k j a n d к , Ф kj, b u t in th is case th e phase difference betw een
k< a n d k , is n o t generally \n .
 1083

Phase velocity effects in tertiary wave interactions 335

where the functions A and В are given by (LH 3.10) and the angles a, ft and в
are illustrated in LH figure 1 . It follows that the contribution at wave-number
k2 of the interaction is given by

- ( ^ +’ i r ) < 2’>
where
Г = « » « , » , | k , - k, | o o « 4 « ( l +

+ K + 0 - ,) | t 1 + k ,| d ,= i 6 j l - s - i ^ E ^ _ 3 }

+ <Гх(кх—k2+ k2 cos2£0 sin2^6) + cr2( t l + k2) cos . (2 .8)

The surface displacement corresponding to this contribution is found in a

manner similar to LH § 4, and
£al ~ (K'tj2g)sin т]гг = (Z'«/2^)sin (к 2.х -< г 20, (2.9)
apart from bounded third-order terms. The other components in the wave field
having wave-number k, are the primary wave
£oi = a2COS
and the tertiary self-interaction term
£оз = ia 2(a2k2fa -2t s m f 2
(see, for example, Phillips I960, § 5.1). Thus the total component o f wave-number
k 2 is given by
£oi + £оз + £si = аг{соа + \К'(2да-га -,)-1 + (a2t) sin ^ 2}
= a2 cos {k 2. x —[1 + (2j<72a 2)_1 К' 4- |(а2fc2)2] °г0> (2Л 0)
over a sufficient time interval. The change in the phase velocity of wave 2
resulting from its interaction with wave 1 is therefore
а. К' K' ,n i l 4
C* - k2 2дага 2 2a^o\’

where the function K' is given in (2 .8) above. Since K' is proportional to a2
this change in phase velocity is thus independent of the amplitude o f wave 2 ,
whereas, o f course, the additional Stokes effect is proportional to (a2fca)2.

3. Parallel primary waves

The expression (2 . 8) simplifies considerably if the wave-numbers k t and k 2
are parallel. I f it, < k2 then from LH figure 1, в = а = 0, /3 = 77, and, from (2 .8),
K' = o?aE<r1 <rs[(tr1 -£ r 2)(A:2 -Jfc1)-l-<r1 (fc1 - fc i ) + fra( ^ + fca)] = 2a\ai k1a1(rl,
and (3-1)
from (2.11). In this particular case, the increase in phase velocity is independent
o f the wave-number of wave 2 aa well as its amplitude, and in fact, equals the
1084

336 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and О. M. Phillips

m ass-transport a t the surface o f w ave 1 . This is a curious result, and a t first
sight suggests th a t the interaction can be considered physically as a simple
convection o f the second w ave w ith the mass-transport velocity induced b y the
first. However, such a concept is likely to be misleading, since it would lead us
to expect th a t the distribution o f m ass-transport velocity with depth would be
im portant, particularly when k±and k2 are o f comparable magnitude.
I f кг > 1ct and the vectors are parallel, then в = 0, a — 0 —n, and

К' = а\агсг^(т2 [ f o - cr2) (kx- fct ) j l + (_ —

+ o"i(fci &2) 4- 2а\агк^сгxcr\, (3.2)

after a little algebra. Consequently
Дс2 = afor^u, (3.3)
or k jk t times the m ass-transport velocity at the surface of w ave 1. Clearly, in
this case the idea of a simple convection fails, and the increase in c2is independent
of the wave-number of wave 1. I t can be shown likewise that, if the directions
of k x and k 2 are opposite, the change Дc2 has the magnitude (3.1) or (3.3) depend­
ing on the ratio of the wave-number magnitudes, but has the opposite sign, and
so represents a decrease in the phase velocity of the wave trains.

4. A continuous spectrum o f parallel waves

The expressions (3.1) and (3.3) can be extended readily to give the increase
in velocity o f a single sine wave (a2, fc2, cr2) resulting from the interaction w ith a
continuous spectrum of waves all travelling in the same direction. I f
a + da
2 = E(cr)d<T,
tr
/\Г| ГCD
then Дс2 = I 2E(u)crkd<T + I 2E(<r)ak2dcr,
JO J tr,

= ^ lli cr3E(<T)do- + o‘l j crE(cr) dorj . (4.1)

I f the single sine wave is moving in the opposite direction to the waves in the
continuous spectrum, then the velocity o f the single w ave decreases by the
amount (4.1).
REFEREN CES
L o n g u e t -H ig g in s , M. S .
1962 R esonant interactio n s betw een two train s of g ra v ity
w aves. J . F lu id M ech . 12, 321.
P h i l l i p s , О. M. 1960 On the d yn am ics of u n stead y g ra v ity w aves of fin ite am p litu d e.
P a rt 1. The elem en tary interactions. J . F lu id M ech . 9, 193-217.

P R IN TE D IN ORE AT B R IT A IN AT TH E U N IV E R S IT Y P R E S S , CAM BRIDG E

(BRO OK E C K U T C H L E Y , U N IV E R S IT Y P R IN T E R )
 1085

J . F lu id M e c h . (1966), v o l. 25, p a r t 3, p p . 417-435 417

P r i n t e d i n G rea t B r it a in

An experiment on third-order resonant wave interactions

By M. S. L O N G U E T -H I G G I N S and N. D. S M IT H
N ational In stitu te of O ceanography, W orm ley, Surrey

(R eceived 30 J u ly 1965)

An experiment has been carried out to verify the existence of the resonant inter­
action between trains of gravity waves, predicted by Phillips (1960). As suggested
by Longuet-Higgins (1962), two trains of waves in mutually perpendicular
directions were generated in a rectangular wave tank. The ratio o'j/o'j of the wave
frequencies was varied (1-4 < cr1lcrt < 2-1 ). When ош
11<г2 + 1-7367 it was expected
that a resonant interaction would take place, generating a wave of frequency
(2cr1 —(r2). The amplitude of the third wave was expected to increase almost
linearly in the direction of wave propagation. The shape of the response curve as
a function of a"|/cr2 was also predicted.
In the present experiments rather large wave amplitudes had to be used, and
the theoretical shape of the response curve was distorted by non-linear detuning.
Nevertheless the peak amplitude of the resonant wave was found to increase
with distance in very nearly the manner predicted.
These experiments were carried out in 1961 but publication was deferred pend­
ing a similar but more accurate investigation by McGtoldriek, Phillips, Huang &
Hodgson (1966). Much of the theoretical discussion given in the present paper
is relevant to their work.

1. In tro d u ctio n
It was first shown by Phillips (1960) that three trains of gravity waves in deep
water, with horizontal wave-numbers kx,k2, k3, say, may under certain conditions
interact so as to transfer energy to a fourth wave-number, say k4. Two necessary
conditions for such interaction are that
kj ± k2± k3 ± k4 = 0, (1)
and (Tj + сгг ± cr3 ± cri = 0, (2)
where cri denotes the frequency)- corresponding to kj. Hasselmann (1962) has
shown that two ofthe signs in (1 ) must be positive and two negative; and similarly
in (2 ).
Any two of the wave numbers, say kj and k3, may also be equal (Phillips 1960)
in which case one has № t ь .
2™ I
(3 )
2<T1 —u i — w 4.r j
= <
The locus of k 9 is then a certain figure-of-eight curve, with k j at the centre (see
Phillips 1960, figure 1).
f Radian frequencies and angular wave-numbers are used throughout thi9 paper.
27 Fluid Mooh. 26
1086

418 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

I f the three w ave amplitudes a1 , a2, a3 are small, and i f at is initially zero, then
Phillips showed th at a 4 is proportional to the product a 1 o 2a 3 a t first, and it grows
proportionally to the time t. Benney (1962) considered a more general situation
when all four w ave amplitudes av ...,a 4 were of comparable magnitude. The
existence of periodic solutions in this case was shown by Bretherton (1964).
In a series of papers (1960, 1962, 1963 a, 6 ), Hasselmann has studied the reson­
ant transfer of energy for a continuous w ave spectrum, and finds (19636) th at
for ocean waves the modification of the w ave spectrum by this mechanism should
be appreciable.
On the other hand, the whole analysis has been called in question by Pierson
(1961), who has suggested that the apparent transfer of energy is not real, but
is a consequence of a deficiency in the method of approximation.
In order to test the theory under controlled conditions one of the present
authors (Longuet-Higgins 1962) suggested a simple experiment th at could be
carried out in a fairly small w ave tank. Let two wave-makers be placed on ad­
jacent sides o f a rectangular tank, with wave absorbers on the two sides opposite
(as in figure 1.). Let one of the wave-makers generate waves with frequency cr1
and the other w ith frequency <r2. The wave-numbers k j and k 2 are m utually
perpendicular. Then when the ratio approaches a certain value such th at the
conditions (3) are satisfied it should be possible to detect a w ave o f frequency
(2<rj —cr2) and wave-number ( 2 ^ —k 2) due to the resonant interaction. The
rate of growth was calculated theoretically in the paper just mentioned (Longuet-
Higgins 1962).
The present paper is an account of an attem pt to carry out this experiment.
The observations were made during 1961 and 1962 a t the Adm iralty Experi­
mental Worka, Haslar, and were described by the present authors in a prelimi­
nary report dated 1962. The results, as will be seen, did indeed show the existence
of a resonant interaction, but at the large w ave slopes used, the shape of the
response curve was distorted by non-linear effects (see below). Since the wave
amplitude was limited by the sensitivity of the apparatus, publication was
deferred, while, under the guidance of Dr Phillips, similar but more precise
investigations were begun at Johns Hopkins University. These are described
fully in an adjoining paper (McGoldrick et al. 1966), and appear to have also
verified the theoretical form of the response curve. Our own experiments re ­
mained unpublished till now. Nevertheless, McGoldrick, et al. made some use of
our results and calculations, and have referred to them. I t seems convenient
to present them here. Moreover these earlier experiments, though less conclusive
in themselves, may have some additional points of interest to recommend them.
I t should perhaps be mentioned that a different type of non-linear interaction
between gravity waves has recently been observed and analysed by Benjamin
& Feir (1966).

2 . T heoretical expectations
In this section we shall summarize the main theoretical results th at are
relevant to the subsequent experiments.
 1087

Third-order resonant wave interactions 419

The resonance condition. The two prim ary! wave trains will be supposed to be
mutually perpendicular, as in figure 1. If, to begin with, we assume that the waves
are unaffected by finite depth or surface tension then the resonance condition
can be derived very simply as follows. (Afterwards we take these affects into
account, as well as the effect of finite wave amplitude.)
Since the primary waves kj, k 2 are both free waves (to first order) we have

= giti,J
where k{ — |k,-j and g denotes the acceleration of gravity. In order that the
interaction wave k 4 shall also be a free wave we must have
(20 1 - 0 *)* = £121^ - 1^ 1. ( 2 .2 )
In the special case when the two primary waves are mutually perpendicular,
this condition becomes
(2<гх —<г2)г = ff(4*i + 4)* = (4 o i+ «*)*, (2-3)
from (2.1). Let us write for convenience
(Tj/trjj = r. (2.4)
Then on rejecting the trivial case <r2 = 0, we obtain from (2.3)
(2r—1)*= (4r4 + l) i. (2.5)
Inspection shows that this equation has just two roots: r = 0 and r = Г 7357
( ф <J3), Thus there is just one non-trivial solution, namely
<r,/ir2 = 1-7357 = r„, (2.6)
say. The ratio of the wave-numbers is then
Jfei/Jfcg = 3-0123, (2.7)
so th at the wave-number k 4 makes an angle with k1 given by
tan - 1 (Jfc,/2*e) = 9° 24' (2.8)
(see figure 1 ).
We have so far neglected the effects of surface tension, finite depth and finite
wave amplitude (including the mutual interaction of the waves). It can be shown
(see Appendix 1) that provided each of these effects is small, resonance occurs
when * 1l<ri = ra+ Ar = r'0, (2.9)
say, where r 0 is given by (2 .6 ),
Ar = - 1 - 9 5 7 £e i-0 -0 5 4 2 e 2+ 2-01 lS e 4, (2.10)
and elf e2, e4 are the quantities summarized in table 1 . The summation 2 refers
to the sum of the corrections in each column. Thus Ar represents the total amount
whereby the frequency ratio is detuned.
t It is convenient to refer to the waves with wave-numbers k,, k2, ka as the p r i m a r y
waves, and the wave with wave-number k4 as the tertiary wave. This distinction can only
be made when the amplitude o, is in itially zero.
2 7 -2
1088

420 М. 8. Longitet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

«4
Finite depth — 2 e ~ 2 i,A _ 2 e - 2t<“ 2e~i ’“ h
Surface tension Tk\l(pg) ТЩ (рд) Tk\Kpg)
1 -00о,й * —0-07aJifc’ 2-92 a \k \
Finite am plitude I — 0-66a*fc; l-00affc« — 2-15aJA^
0G9o' h\ - 0 0 6 a\k* 1 -OOa'ifcJ
T able 1

The corrections for finite amplitude have been calculated on the assumption
th at the motion is irrotational, which is known to be true only in the initial stages
of the motion (Longuet-Higgins 1960). Generally, some second-order vorticity
will be diffused into the interior, producing currents of order a\ c 1kl or a|<r2fc2.
These will affect the critical ratio r to an extent comparable with the effects
mentioned. However, since the mass-transport currents are somewhat unpre­
dictable, their effect is not included.
Amplitude of the tertiary wave. Under conditions of resonance, the expected
wave amplitude was shown by Longuet-Higgins (1962) to be given by
a 4 = 0-442(Oj&j)2 (aafc2) я, (2.11)
where x denotes the horizontal distance from wave-maker 1 , in the direction o f
propagation. That is to say, the wave amplitude grows (at first) linearly with
horizontal distance. If viscous dissipation is taken into account (see Appendix 2),
equation (2 .1 1 ) must be replaced by
a 4 - 0-442 (a^ * )2 (а2кг) (1 —e~Bx)/B, (2.12)
where В = ivo\/g*. (2-13)
This turns out to be a fairly small correction.
A natural procedure is to observe the amplitude of the resonant w ave at
different distances from the wave-maker and under conditions when the fre­
quency ratio r is near to (but not necessarily at) resonance. The shape o f the
response curve as a function of r, is considered in Appendix 2 . I t is shown there
that the expected amplitude a4 is given approximately by
at = a4m!Bi\wa(xSk)l(xSk)\, (2Л4)
where a 4„„v is the value given by equation (2 . 12 ) and where
3k = -0 -2 4 9 * 4(r —ro). (2.16)
Thus the width W of the response curve, th at is to say the interval of r separating
the peak response from the nearest minimum value, is given by
xSk = it , W = 12-7/(&4ж). (2.16)
Hence the width is inversely proportional to the distance from wave-maker 1.
The above formulae take no account of the detuning effects mentioned earlier,
except in so far as r0 is replaced by r'0.
 1089

Third-order resonant wave interactions 421

I f the distance x were allowed to increase indefinitely, the finite value of the
steepness axkt of the tertiary wave would ultimately shift the resonant frequency
through a distance comparable with the central region of the response curve.
The above formulae would then not apply. However, in the present experiments
the detuning due to ai ki was small compared with W, so that the necessary con­
dition was satisfied.
There must also be some transfer of energy from k, to both k 2 and k 4, leading
to a slight change in the amplitudes a 2 and at. But these changes were also negli­
gible.

3. D escrip tio n o f the ap paratus

The experiments were carried out in a rectangular tank, of which a plan view
is shown in figure 1 . The overall horizontal dimensions were 10 ft. by 8 ft.,
(3'05m by 2-44m) and the maximum possible depth was 9-Oin. (23cm). The
two wave-makers, shown schematically in figure 1 , were of the vertical plunger
type, having a wedge-shaped vertical cross-section. Each was driven by a 1 h.p.
electric motor. B y using a battery power supply, the motor speeds could he
kept constant to within 0-2 % over a period of 3min.
Wave-maker 2

FiGtrRE 1. P lan of the w ave tan k, showing the theoretical crest p uttem of the te rtia ry
w aves, and the zone of reflexion. The surface displacem ent wns recorded a t А, В , С and I).
A, and Л, denote the w avelengths of the two p rim ary w aves.

On the sides of the tank opposite the wave-makers there were wave-absorbing
beaches, so designed as to reflect not more than 1 % of the wave energy. Since
wave-maker 1 was always operated at a higher speed than wave-maker 2 , the
corresponding beach could be narrower.
According to the simple theory given in § 2 the direction of the tertiary inter­
action wave at resonance should be at an angle of 9° 24' with the direction of
wave 1 (away from the corresponding wave-maker) and with a slight component
towards wave-maker 2 . Hence there should be a narrow zone of reflexion from
wave-maker 2 , as indicated in figure 1 .
One expects the amplitude of the teritary wave to increase proportionally
1090

422 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

w ith distance in the direction of wave propagation. Continuous records of the
surface elevation were therefore made at each of the points А, В, С and D
in figure 1, at distances o f 1 ’5, 4-0, 5-5 and 7-Oft., (46, 124, 165 and 216 cm) re­
spectively from wave-maker 1, measured parallel to the direction of kt, and 2-5 ft
(76 cm) from wave-maker 2. These positions are well outside the zone of reflexion.
The w ave recorder used was o f the capacitance-wire type, having two parallel
vertical elements about 0-65 cm apart. Surface-tension effects, at first trouble­
some, were overcome by treating the wires with a detergent. The apparatus was
calibrated by raising and lowering the wires through a known distance.

— П— к ~T1 J PI
2<r2 | (o'l + fl’i) J 2 <
r;
Г
| I
(2 (г2 — (T j) ( 2 ( 7 ] - <7 2) 3(7-2 (*1 + 2* 2) 3 (7 )
(а )
(2 , -4- (Т2) -
■оa

3
о
Рч
•5
£

'Л
CU

I___ к
100 200 300

FroTTRE 2. Complete harm onic an alysis of a typ ica l record, a t position C.

After amplification, the electrical signal from the wave recorder was fed to one
channel of a high-speed pen recorder. The remaining channels of the recorder
were used for time markings. A microswitch on the shaft of each wave-maker made
a contact once every revolution, giving an accurate measure of the relative
frequencies. A third time-trace was operated by a one-minute time switch.

4. Procedure and method o f analysis

In operation, the frequency cr1 of wave-maker 1 was kept constant and the
frequency cr2 was altered in small steps. A t each setting of <r2, time was allowed
for the wave conditions to become steady. In this way the whole range
1-4 sg crlj<T2 ^ 2 -1
was examined, a t each of the stations А, В, С and D.
 1091

Third-order resonant wave, interactions 423

The record of the surface elevation at any point contains, besides the two
fundamental frequencies <r1 and <r2 and a small amount of random noise, also
harmonics of the form (ncr1 +mcr2), where n and m are positive or negative
integers or zero. To examine the output in a typical case, when (Г,/(Г2 = 1-58,
the recorded output was digitized and a harmonic analysis performed by a stand­
ard routine.f The squares of the Fourier components (regardless of phase)
are as shown in figure 2 . From this it can be seen that the components <ту and er2
are by far the largest in the record, and that the next largest is the interaction
frequency (2 cr1 —a'i), closely followed by the second harmonics 2<г, and 2<r2.
The remaining harmonics are all considerably smaller. The magnitude o f the
second harmonics is such as would be expected on the ordinary second-order
theory, in which resonance plays no part. The magnitude of the resonance har­
monic will be discussed below.

w ave-m aker 1
F ig u r e 3. D iagram of the differential gear d riving the harmonic an alyser.

However, to examine each frequency spectrum in detail for the large number
of records required, would have been unnecessarily laborious, since in general only
the magnitude of the harmonic (2cr1 —cr2) was required. Accordingly a very simple
analogue harmonic analyser, for this particular frequency, was devised as
follows.
Consider the differential gear shown in figure 3. The gear is normally driven
by rotating the cage at an angular frequency cr,, say. I f the two other shafts are
so constrained as to rotate at the same speed, then both will rotate with angular
speed (Гг B ut if one of the shafts is held stationary, the other will rotate at a
speed 2cr^
On the other hand, if the cage is held still and one of the other shafts is rotated
at a speed cr2, the remaining shaft will rotate with speed —<r2. The motions are
additive. Hence if the cage is driven with speed <rv and one of the other shafts
with speed <rs, the remaining shaft will rotate with the required speed (2ct1—<tJ.
Making use of this principle, the driving shaft of wave-maker 1 was coupled
directly to the cage of a differential gear; the driving shaft of wave-maker 2 was
coupled to one arm of the differential. The other arm of the differential was then
made to rotate a linear, wire-wound resistor, across which the electrical output
f(t) of the wave probe, was applied through moving electrical contacts. A
t BO MM.
1092

424 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

stationary pair o f contacts then picked up the voltage acrosB the resistor. This
was proportional to f(t) cos в, where
в = (2(jj —<r2) (t —t0)
denotes the orientation o f the resistor. The output was then smoothed by
feeding through an R.C. filter with a time-constant of 30 sec. The smoothed out­
put then gave a measure of the Fourier cosine component at frequency (2cr, —cr2).
A second pair o f contacts, at right-angles to the first, gave a measure of the Fourier
sine component. I f these components are denoted by С and S respectively, then
the total amplitude of the harmonic was taken to be (C2 + £2)4.

F igure 4. The relation betw een the harm onics {nom1+ тп<7в)
in the range 1*5 r < 2-0.

The amplitude determined in this w ay was compared with the amplitude

determined by the complete harmonic analysis in the special case mentioned
above. The two determinations of the amplitudes by the two methods were very
nearly identical. Accordingly, in general the simpler analogue method was
used.
The analysis using the differential gear had also the advantage that it referred
the tertiary wave to the actual frequencies of the primary waves rather than to a
sine wave of fixed frequency, and so was less sensitive to frequency drift.
Figure 4 shows the frequencies of the harmonics (ncr, -f-'mo'j) as a function o f
the ratio r = <r^<rt. It can be seen that at two points in the range, namely r = 1-5
and r = 2 0 , the frequency of interest, namely (2cTj —<r2), coincides with another
of the harmonics. A t these points it was not possible to determine the amplitude
at. However, when the ratio r was quite close to l -б or 2-0 it was still possible to
measure ait since the effect of the unwanted harmonics was simply to produce
 1093

Third-order resonant wave interactions 425

slow beats in the output of the R.C. filter. The amplitude of the harmonic
(2f7j —<r2) may then be shown to correspond to the mean value of the output.

5. Experimental parameters
The sensitivity of the apparatus was limited by the wave probe itself. In order
that the amplitude at of the tertiary wave should grow to an appreciable value
within the limited space of the tank, it was necessary that the steepness of the
primary waves, especially (a^kj), should be as large as possible.
The stroke of the wave-makers was kept constant at 0-5in. (1-27 cm). The
wave amplitude a1 was constant at about 1-06 cm. The amplitude a2 depended
somewhat on the frequency, diminishing from 0-85 cm at r = l -б to about 0-70 at
r = 2-0. Near the resonance peak, a 2 was 0-74 cm. Thus, for the wave amplitudes
we have
= 10 6cm , a 2 *^0-74cm.

The (constant) parameters for wave 1 were given by

crj = 27Г/0-38 = 16-5 sec-1, I

= ° i Id = 0-28 cm -1, j
ajjfcj = 0-281.

The parameters for wave 2 were variable, but at the resonance frequency <r2,
when crj/crg 1-92, we have

°2 = o‘i/192 = 8-6 sec-1,'

lc2 = <r2jg —0-076 cm-1,
агкг = 0-0Б6.
Corresponding to these values we have

<т4 — (2(т1 —о'г) = 24'4sec~1,|

lct = (4A;S + jfc2)i = О-ббст-1.]
The expected amplitude ad of the tertiary wave was of the order’ of a few mm.
It may be as well to emphasize how critically the amplitude <z4 may be expected
to depend on the frequency (Tlt for a given ratio r. This is because a 4 is propor­
tional to (ajjfc,)2 (a2&2); and since k1 is nearly proportional to гт\, and fc2 to o^, a 4
varies roughly as the sixth power of tr,.
The amplitude a 4 will also be affected by any reflexion, however small, of
wave energy from the beaches, For example, a wave —k 2 reflected from beach 2 ,
having only 10 % of the amplitude of k 2, would produce a corresponding tertiary
wave travelling in almost the same direction as that to be measured, and changing
their combined amplitude by as muoh as 1 0 % depending on their relative
phase at the point of observation. A second reflexion of k 2 a t wave-maker 2
could increase this effect to 20% . W hether the effects will reinforce or cancel
one another at a fixed point will depend on their relative phase, and hence on
the wave-number k 2, whioh in turn depends on the frequency.
1094

426 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

6. Com parison o f theory and observation
The observed amplitudes o f the tertiary harmonic are plotted against the
ratio r in figures 5 (a) to 5 (d). The measurements have been normalized by divid­
ing by (ajfc)2 (a2k2).

(a)

F igure 5(a) to (d). Observed values of a4/(o,fej' (at kt), m easured a t positions
А , В , С and D, respectively.

It can be seen th at the main peak in each of the four figures occurs somewhat
to the right of the uncorrected value r 0 = 1-736. The maximum observed value of
a ij(a1ki)2 (a2kj) in each of figures 5(a) to 5(i) is plotted against the distance x
from wave-maker 1 in figure 6 . Also in figure 6 is shown the theoretical peak ampli­
tude given by the formula 0-442x, From this it can be seen th at the peak ampli­
tude increases with the distance x in about the same way as predicted.
The theoretical width W of the response curve, as given by (2.16) is shown
below in table 2. ki has been kept constant at 0-56 cm-1. Curves of the form (2.14)
have been fitted roughly to the observations in figures 5 (a) to 5 (d). As can be seen,
there is some resemblance to the observed distribution of points. However
in figures 5(c) and 5 [d) the observations show a noticeable rise in amplitude for
values of r less than 1 -6 , in contrast to the theoretical prediction.
 1095

Third-order resonant wave interactions 427

To estimate the expected positions of the peak amplitude we have inserted
in table 1 the values of av a2, kv and h given above, leaving (at kt) for the
moment undetermined. The following corrections are obtained.

F ig u r e 6. The largest observed values of a jic^ k ,)* (а2к г), a t the four positions А, В , C, D.
The solid curve represents th e theoretical peak am plitude.

Position X w
A 46 0*48
В 124 0*18
С 155 0*15
D 216 0-11
Table 2

e« e*
F inite depth 0-000 - 0 054 0-000
Surface tension 0-006 0*001 0*030
F in ite am plitude 0*076 0-002 0-221
+ 0-69 (a M * -0 * 0 6 0 ( a . i j * -И »,* .)8
T able 3

On substituting in equation (2 . 10) we obtain

Ar = 0-35 + 0*66(a4fc4)s. (6-1)
Hence, we should expect the critical ratio to be somewhat greater than
r„ = 1-736,
and to increase very slightly with (o4i 4). Since (ai ki) is of the order of 0-2 or less,
the latter correction ia small.
1096

428 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

Since th e m ass-transport currents have been neglected, equation (6 . 1 ) is
valid only to within an order of magnitude. Nevertheless it may be noted th at
the displacement o f the peak response to the right o f r0 is of the same order, as
expected, though less b y a factor of about 2 .

7. Discussion and conclusions

In spite of the scatter of the observations in figure 5, it is apparent th at the
amplitude a 4 of the tertiary component, as exemplified by the peak amplitude
in figure 6 , does increase almost linearly with x in the manner predicted. From
this alone it is legitimate to conclude th at the resonant interaction has been
observed.
Owing to the limited sensitivity of the w ave probe, it was necessary to work
with prim ary waves of rather large steepness, especially a1 kv Hence it was not
possible to verify convincingly the theoretical shape of the response curve
as a function of r. Nevertheless, the shape of the response curve, as given by the
width and mean position of the resonant peak, are certainly consistent with the
approximate theory.
The problem of increasing the sensitivity of the wave probe has been solved
by McGoldrick et al. (1966). They have thus been able to work with smaller steep­
ness and to verify more precisely the form of the response curve.

W e are indebted to the Director of the Adm iralty Experimental W orks,

Mr R.M . Newton, for the use of the model tank in the A.E.W . W ave Laboratory.
Generous assistance was given by Mr J . E.Connolly, Mr W. J . Wilkinson and
other members of the A.E.W . Staff, to whom we express our thanks. Mr B. J.
Hinde and Mrs P. Edwards of the National Institute of Oceanography kindly
assisted us with the numerical analysis of the measurements. The preliminary
report of these experiments was prepared while one of us (M. S. L.-H.) was
visiting the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of Cali­
fornia, in 1961 and 1962. He is indebted to the Director, W alter Munk, for his
hospitality.

Appendix 1
Corrections to the resonant frequency ratio
We now calculate the corrections to the critical ratio (in other words the ‘de­
tuning1) which results from three different effects: surface tension, finite depth
of water and finite wave amplitude. In the last of these we include both the self­
interactions and the mutual interactions of the primary waves. When each o f the
effects is small they may be calculated by the method of small perturbations, and
are simply additive.
Suppose, in a general way, that the relation between frequency and wave-
number for the two primary waves is given not by equations (2 . 1 ) but rather by
a\ = ^ , ( 1 + 6,),!
(Al)
a\ = gk2( l+ e 2),/
 1097

Third-order resonant wave interactions 429

where and e2 are small compared with unity. Suppose further that for the
tertiary wave
(2«г1 - <г1) * - д ( 4 Ч + Ч)*(»+в4). (A 2)
Eliminating and k2 from the above equations and neglecting squares and pro­
ducts of the ei we have

(2r- l )4 = 4r‘ (1 - 2e1 + 2e4) + (1 - 2ег + 2et),

where r = cTj/<г2, as before. Now write

r = г0+ Дт,

where rBis the non-zero root of (2.5). Then to the same order of approximation
we have
8(2r0—I )3Ar = 16г3Д г -8 г 4(е1 - е 4) - 2 ( е а- е 4),

д .. <«* + ■><■.
8rjJ-4(2r0- l )3

Inserting the numerical value of r 0 from equation (2.5) we find

Д, = —l-957e1-0-0 64 e2 + 2-011e4. (A3)

(a) Correction for finite depth

The period equation for waves in water of uniform depth h is

о-2 = g&tanh kh.

Which can be written
tr2 = дк{1 -e"***) (l+ e -M )-1.

When erkh is small, this is replaceable by

(r2 = 0ifc(l- 2e-2fcA). (A 4)

(b) Correction for surface tension

For waves controlled by both gravity and surface tension we have

a 2 = gk+{Tjp) №,

where T is the surface-tension constant and p denotes the density. This may
be written
tr2 = gr*{1 -H(T/pg) £*}. (A 5)

In the case of clean water at room temperature,

Tj{pg) = 7 4 / ( 1 - 0 0 x 9 8 1 ) = 0 - 0 7 6 c m 2.
1 0 98

430 M . S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

(c) Correction fo r finite amplitude
F or waves of finite amplitude there ia a small increase in the phase velocity, given
^ сгг — gfe(l -f a2&2), (A 6 )
(see Lamb 1932, §260).

(d) Correction for mutual interaction

I t was shown by Longuet-Higgins & Phillips (1962) th at in the presence of any
w ave (wave-number kj), a second w ave (wave-number k 2) undergoes a slight
change in phase velocity, and this change is given by
Дс2 = К l(2ga2k2),
where
Г = a ? a 2 (Tj<r2^(«Tj — o -j)| k j — k 2j f c o s H 0 } ( l +

+ 1 k , + k,| {sin2 w I j l - Wi }

+ <T1(k1- k 2 + k2 cos2 \Qsin2 \8) + cr2(k1 + k2) cos (?J, (A 7)

and a, fi, в are the angles shown in figure 7.

The proportional change in velocity is

Ac2/c2 = K'l(2ga2cr2),
and hence Д(<7?)/<т| = K ’j(ga2a 2).

Thus, o-| = 9 fe1!( l + _ iL .\

\ ^ 2 ^ 2/
or v\ = gk2(\ + Ma\k\),
where M = K'i(a\a2gk\cr2) = ((r^ ) -1 x square bracket in (A7). (AS)
 1099

Third-order resonant wave interactions 431

К the waves are mutually perpendicular (в = $тт),

Sin'

and we find after some reduction,

M = - [i» 3 + (r4 - r 2+ l) —(r2+ 1 ) (r4 + l) i ] ' (A9)

A t the resonant frequency, the effect of wave 1 on wave 2 is found by writing
r = r,) » 1-7357 in (A9) giving M — —0-073. The effect of wave 2 on wave 1
is found by interchanging the suffices or inverting r, i.e. r = 1 ~ 1-7357, giving
M = -0 -6 6 .
The effect of wave 1 on wave 4 is found by replacing the suffix 2 by the suffix
4 in (A9) and taking в as the angle between and к ,; a. and /? being changed
correspondingly. It is then found that M = 2-92. Similarly, for the effect of wave 2
on wave 4 it is found that Ж = —2-15,and fortheeffect of w ave4on waves la n d 2
we find M = 0-69 and —0 06, respectively.
These corrections are all summarized in table 1 (see p 420).

A p p en d ix 2
The response function
W e now calculate the amplitude of the tertiary wave at different places in the
tank, and for different frequency ratios r, on the assumption that the waves are
effectively deep-water gravity waves of small ampliutde, and ignoring the small
corrections mentioned in Appendix 1.
I f the surface elevation corresponding to the two primary wave trains is given
cLi cos (k j. x - o\t) + a2 cos ( к ,. x - a 2t),
then the equation for the tertiary wave potential can be shown (Longuet-
Higgins 1962) to be as follows:

( ^ + д ъ ) , 0= s in K ^ - k ^ .x - ^ - o - ^ ] , (A10)

where К is a function of the wave amplitudes a^, a2l the wave-numbers k la k 2

and the frequencies cr1, a t. In the case we are considering, when the angle between
kj and k j is 90°, we have

К = iala2o-1 JVi - £Гг) f t + ii:2- 1kj - k21} + i>2

4cr1(cr1 - ( r 2)(2<r1 -< r!!)|k1 - k 2|cos2 t e l
(°i —^г )2 —ff|ki—k 2| J
where a denotes the angle between kj and (kj —k 2). W rite
12k x—k 2| = fc4, ^ - ( Г а ) = <r4
and consider the solution to (A 10) together with Laplace’s equation Va0 = 0
and the deep-water condition: ф -»■ 0 as the vertical co-ordinate z tends to —oo.
1100

432 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

W e also assume th at the total flow across the plane x » 0 vanishes, where x
ia the horizontal co-ordinate in the direction of propagation. It can be verified
th at the solution is
ф = —iJ^ - [ e fc*s sin(fc4a:-o- 4< )-efc«Esin(A;0a :-( r4«)], ( A ll)
crt —gkA
where k0 —сгЦд. The first term in the square brackets represents a particular
integral of (A 10), and the second term represents a free w ave added in order to
satisfy the imposed boundary condition a t x = 0. Now when г = 0, ( A ll) can
be w ritten,
ф = { - 2 K I { a l- g k i)}smi(ki - k 0)xsm{l(ki + k0) x - a i t},

, Kx sin (xSk) . ,,, ... (A 12)

Ф = ----------, . . . sm {(fc0+ dk)x-crt t},
(xSk)

where Sk _ _ ! /ь _ (A13)
№) ■
W hen 5ifc/Jfe4is small, (A 12) represents a wave o f wave-number k0approximately,
travelling with nearly the free-wave velocity. Its amplitude is given by

1 дф Kcrx sin(£<M:)
ai — 9 8t (A 14)
S'2 (xSk)
As the critical frequency ratio is approached, Sk-*- 0 and in the limit

a 4 = K<rxjg2. (A 15)

In other words, at resonance the amplitude of the tertiary wave grows propor­
tionally to the distance x. Equation (A 15) m ay be written

at = (djfc,)2 (a2k2) G{6)x ( A 16 )

(cf. Longuet-Higgins 1962, equation (7.2)), where G is a non-dimensional function

o f the angle в between the two primary waves: in this case when в —90° it is found
th a tG = 0-442....
I f now the ratio r of the frequencies is varied, equation (A 12) shows th at the
amplitude of the tertiary waves is given more generally by
sinaSA
д4 — (^i^i)2 G (6, t ) x (A 17)
:Sk
where Sk is given by (A 13) and
2r - l
Щп,г) = : r 3 ( r - l) { ( f » + l ) - ( r * + l)* }+ ir
2 r(r - l ) ( 2r - l ) { ( r « + l ) * - r 8}'
+- (A 18)
(r4 + l) i —(r —l )2 ]•
The latter function ie plotted in figure 8 over the interesting range of frequencies:
1-4 4 т < 2-1, and it will be seen that over the whole range G(\v,r) differs little
from G(in,r0)
 1101

Third-order resonant wave interactions 433

Fiam tE 8. The function G(in, r )in 1-4 ^ f 4 2 1 .

The broken line represents 0(\тг, r0).

W e must now relate 8k to the frequency ratio r. From the definition (A 13) we
have л hi. __2 (:2a1 -<r2)2
1- (A 19)
д(Щ + к1)±'
2 Sk (2r —l )2
o rfro m ( 2 . 1 ) , = 1- (A20)
К (4r* + l ) i
I f r 0 is the value corresponding to Sk = 0, i.e. to resonance, and if r = ra+ Sr,
then by differentiation of the right-hand side of (A 20) we have to first order,
28k ___ ( ______________
Sr.
\ ~ \2r 0— 1 4rJ + i)
On inserting the numerical value of ra we find
28k/kt = -0-497ЛГ. (A 21)
The exact expression (A 20) is compared with the approximation (A 21 ) in
figure 9. So we have ^ = _ 0.249^ 5,.. (A 22 )

So far, the effect of viscosity on the waves has been entirely neglected. In
that case it has been shown that at the critical ratio r0, the amplitude of the waves
tends to grow linearly with distance, i.e.
at = Ax, daJdx = A, (A23)
where A —0-442(a1i 1)8 (aafca). (A24)
28 Fluid Meob. 25
1102

434 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and N. D. Smith

F io u k e A. A graph of 2Sk/k„ aa given b y (A 20), com pared w ith

the straigh t-lin e approxim ation (A 21).

We ahall now consider the modification to this expression when viscosity is taken
into account.
In a free-surface wave, the rate of dissipation of energy per unit time and hori­
zontal distance is given by
2pva?o-2k

(see Lamb 1932). In gravity waves the energy E = \pga? is propagated with the
group velocity а/2к, and hence we have the relation
8(^pgalcrjk)j8x = —2pva\crik.

Thus = - 4i><r>lg3 = - B, (A 25)

say. Being proportional to the fifth power of the frequency, the damping increases
very sharply towards the high frequencies.
We now attempt to combine (A23) and (A26). I f the damping is small, it
will have a first-order effect on the amplitude of the waves but only a second-
order effect on the phase velocity. Hence the input of energy into the tertiary
 1103

Third-order resonant wave interactions 436

waves is unaffected by the viscosity)*, though there is also a continuous loss of
energy due to viscous dissipation. We assume then as a differential equation for
at the following:
dajdx * A - B a t, (A26)
where A and В are the constants in equations (A 24) and (A 25). Equations (A 23)
and (A 25) are the special cases when В = 0 and .4 = 0, respectively.
The solution of (A26) with boundary condition at = 0 at x = 0, is
= A (l-e ~ Bx)IB. (A 27)
Clearly when Bx <g 1 this reduces to (A 23), i.e. the rate of growth is initially
linear. However, when Bx 1 we have the asymptotic value

a 4 ~ AjB,
which corresponds to the steady state, when the input of energy by the primary
waves is exactly balanced by the dissipation of energy by viscosity.

REFEREN CES
B e n ja m in , T. B b o o k e & F e e r , J . 1966. The disintegration of w ave-trains on deep w ater.
P a rt 1. Theory. P art 2. E xperim ents. To appear in J . F lu id M ech.
B e n n e y , D. J . 1962 Non-linear g rav ity-w av e interactions. J . F luid M ech. 14, 577—84.
B r e t h e r t o n , F. P . 1964 R esonant interactions between w aves; the case of discrete
oscillations. J . F lu id M ech. 20, 467-479.
H a s s e l m a n n , K. I960 Grundgleichungen der Seegaugsvoraussage. S chiffstech niJc , 7 ,1 9 1 -5 .
H a s s e l m a n n , K. 1962 On the non-linear energy tran sfer in a g ra v ity w ave spectrum .
P a rt 1 : General theory. *7. F lu id M ech. 12, 481-500.
H a s s e l m a n n , K. 1 9 6 3 a On the non-linear energy transfer in a g ra v ity w ave spectrum .
P a rt U : Conservation theorem s; w ave particle an alo g y; irrev ersib ility. J . F lu id
M ech. 15, 273-81.
H a s s e l m a n n , K . 19636 On the non-linear energy tran sfer in a g ra v ity w ave spectrum .
P a rt TJX? E valuatio n of the energy flux and sea-sw ell interaction for a N eum ann
spectrum . J . F lu id M ech. 15, 385-98.
L a m b , H . 1932 A T reatise on H yd rod yn a m ics , 6th ed. Cambridge U n iversity Press.
L o n g u e t -H i g g i n s , M. S . 1960 M ass-transport in the boundary la y e r a t a free oscillating
surface. J . F lu id M ech. 8, 293-306.
L o n g u e t-H ig g en s, M. S. 1962 R esonant interactions between two train s of g ra v ity
w aves. J . F lu id M ech. 12, 321—32.
L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , M. S. & P h i l l i p s , О. M. 1962 P h a s e v e l o c i t y e f f e c ts in t e r t i a r y w a v e
i n t e r a c t i o n s . J . F lu id M ech. 12, 333-6.
M c G o ld rio k , L . F ., P h i l l i p s , О. М., H u a n g , N. E. & H o d gso n , Т. H . 1966 M easure­
m ents of third-order resonant w ave interactions. J . F lu id M ech. 25, 437.
P h illip s , О. M, 1960 On the dynam ics of un stead y g ra v ity w aves of finite am p litud e.
P a rt I. The elem entary intoracfcions. J . F lu id M ech. 9 , 193-217.
P ierso n , W . J . 1961 Comments on a paper b y О. M. P h illip s. P ro c. C onf. on O cean
Wave Spectra> E aston Md. 1961; Prentice-H all 1963. See pp. 180-6 and 187—8.

f The effect of viscosity on the two p rim ary w ave train s is even sm aller, owing to their
greater w avelength.

2 8 -2
1104

P roc. R. S oc. Land. A. 347, 311-328 (1976)

P rinted in Great B ritain

On the nonlinear transfer of energy in the peak of a

gravity-wave spectrum: a simplified model

B y M. S. L o n g u e t - H i g g i n s , i \ R . S .
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics,
Silver Street, Cambridge, and
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, S urrey

(Received 10 Ja n u a ry 1975)

A n e q u a tio n g iv e n b y D a v e y & S te w a r ts o n ( 1 9 7 4 ) fo r th e e v o lu tio n o f

w a v e p a c k e ts in th re e dim en sio n s is e m p lo y e d t o discu ss t h e re s o n a n t
tr a n s fe r o f e n e rg y w ith in t h e p e a k o f a n a r ro w sp e c tru m o f g r a v i t y w a v e s .
I t is s h o w n t h a t th e cou p lin g coefficien t G(klt k 2, fea, kt ) b e tw e e n fo u r
n e a r ly e q u a l w a v e n u m b e rs k l 3 .... ki is n o t zero (as h a d b e e n sp e c u la te d )
b u t is e q u a l to 4k. T h is im p lie s th a t th e e x c h a n g e o f e n e rg y w ith in th e p e a k
it s e lf is o f d o m in a n t im p o rta n c e , a n d lead s to a sim p lified d iscussion o f th e
e n e rg y tra n s fe r.

1. I n t r o d u c t i o n
T h e g ra d u a l tra n s fe r o f e n e rg y b e tw e e n g r a v it y w a v e s o f d iffe re n t w a v e le n g th s a n d
d ire c tio n s , w h ic h w a s su g g e ste d o n th e o re tic a l g ro u n d s b y P h illip s ( i 960 ) a n d
H a sse lm a n n ( 1962 , 1963 ), w a s con firm ed in sp e c ia l s itu a tio n s b y la b o r a to r y e x p e r i­
m e n ts (L o n g u et-H ig g in s 1962 ; L o n g u et-H ig g in s & S m ith 1966 ; M cG o ld rio k ,
P h illip s , H u an g & H odgson 1966 ). A n in te r p r e ta tio n o f re c e n t w a v e m e a s u r e m e n t s
in th e N o rth S ea (H asselm an n et al. 1973 ) s tro n g ly su g g ests t h a t th e s e n o n lin e a r
tra n s fe rs o f en e rg y p la y an essen tial ro le in th e d e v e lo p m e n t o f t h e w a v e s p e c tru m
in w a ve -fie ld a w h e re th e fe tc h is lim ite d , p a r tic u la r ly in th e g ro w th o f th e w a v e
e n e rg y a t lo w freq u en cies.
N e v e rth e le s s th e p re s e n t s ta te o f th e th e o r y is in som e resp ec ts u n s a tis fy in g . T h e
e x p ressio n s fo r th e en e rg y tra n s fe r a re n e c e ssa rily o f th e fo rm

" **J* [(^1 "1" ^2) п з n i ” («3 ^4) ^ i^ a l

x d((T1 + <rs - <rs - o-J S(k1 + k2 - fea - fe4) d * 2 dfea dfe4, (1)

where n( denotes the action-density at wavenumber kt and frequency <yi = ^J(g\ft;| )i

and where the delta-functiona express conditions for resonance between the waves
t = 1, 2, 3, 4. However, in the theory as given b y Hasselmann (1962 , 1963 ) th e
coupling coefficient Gffej, k2, k3, kA) is exceedingly complicated, and the algebraic
manipulations required to obtain it are both lengthy and heavy. No physical in ter­
pretation for the precise form of в has been given. The evaluation of 0, and o f the
multiple integral in ( 1 ) has been attem pted only on a computer, and with seemingly
[ 311 ]
 1105

3 12 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
conflicting results. Thus, in the first computations hy Hasselmann ( 1963 ) using the
Pierson-Moskowitz form of the w ave spectrum, it appeared that the rates of energy
transfer would tend to augment the peak value of the spectral density, at the
expense o f the moderately higher frequencies. Later computations using the
narrower spectra measured in the Jonswap field experiments (Hasselmann et al.
1973 ) indicated a different behaviour, namely th at the energy flow was such as to
shift the energy peak towards lower frequencies.
Moreover, at present it is necessary to rely for these critical conclusions upon the
numerical computation o f certain complicated multiple integrals, which cannot be
accurately evaluated. There is obviously a need for a much simpler approach, more
amenable to physical interpretation.
A n attem pt to discuss the energy transfer to wavenumbers well outside the main
peak in the spectrum was recently made by Webb (1974 ), with some success. How­
ever, it is clear from equation ( 1 ) th at the rate o f flux 9n/dt depends in general on the
third power o f the energy density. Hence the rates of transfer in or near the peak o f
the spectrum are likely to be the most important in order o f magnitude, provided
only th at when kv k2, k3, ki are all nearly equal, the coupling coefficient ff(fe1 ,...,fe4)
does not become small or zero. Significantly, G has never been evaluated, even in this
im portant case, because of the complexity o f the algebra involved. Even numerically
this was not possible, because the expressions given by Hasselmann contain singu­
larities, which can only be overcome by passage to the lim it in an appropriate
manner. The question whether or not G vanishes in the lim it is clearly crucial for
a discussion o f the dominant energy flux.
A n opportunity to study the problem from a different point of view came with
a recent paper by D avey & Stewartson (1974 ) who considered the evolution o f the
form o f three-dimensional packets of g ravity waves, on the surface o f w ater of
uniform depth. They discussed the deterministic problem of the change in form of
the w ave envelope, when it is assumed that the ‘w id th ’ o f the Fourier transform is
o f the same order of smallness (e) as the maximum slope o f the waves. They then
derived a rem arkably simple equation (equation (2.4) below) for the rate o f change
o f the envelope function, one, moreover, for which a simple physical interpretation
can be given.
I t should be noted th at an equivalent but more complicated system o f coupled
equations was previously derived by Benney & Roskes ( 1969 ). Chu & Mei ( 1970 ,
1 9 7 1 ) gave coupled equations for the two-dimensional case (0/cb/ = 0) and for two
dimensions the compact form o f equation (2.4) was derived by Hasimoto & Ono
( 1972 ). All these authors considered the case o f arbitrary uniform depth. Equation
(2.4) is the form to which the equation o f D avey & Stewartson is reduced when the
ratio o f the depth to the wavelength tends to infinity (see footnote on p. 314).
The two dimensional form o f equation (2.4) is in fact a special case of the wave-
modulation equation discussed for example by Karpm an & R rushkal (1969 ) and by
Zakharov & Shabat ( 1972 ). This equation has many interesting properties, including
the existence of exact solutions in which the envelope has the form of a solitary wave
1106

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 3 13

(soliton). The initial-value problem is soluble, and it is possible also to discuss the
stab ility o f the soliton solution. However, the added introduction o f variations in
the horizontal direction (17) transverse to the direction o f propagation is essential in
our problem, as we shall see.
The object o f this note is to show how the simple evolution equation (2.5) can be
used to study the energy transfer in a g ra vity w ave spectrum, when all the wave-
numbers ku ..., fe4 are near the peak. In § 2 we state the equation and give a simple
interpretation o f it. In § 3 we derive the resonance conditions for four wavenumbers,
and in § 4 we calculate th e coupling coefficient. This is shown to be non-zero, thereby
answering one leading question, and simplifying th e discussion o f the energy
transfer. A prelim inary discussion o f the consequences is given in §§ 5-7. I t is shown
th a t the energy from an isolated peak in the spectrum tends to spread outwards
along tw o characteristic lines, making angles + arctan ( 1 /^/2 ) w ith th e mean direc­
tion. The relation o f this to the B enjam in-Feir instability is discussed in § 8, and in
§ 9 we present some computations of the energy transfer in a symmetric norm al
spectrum. The conclusions are summarized in § 10.

F igttb e 1. (a) S ch em atic rep resentatio n of a su rface w ith a n arro w spectrum , an d

(b) th e corresponding rep resentatio n in th e w avem rm ber plan e.

2. T he e q u a t io n sob th e w ave e n v e lo p e
W e consider free, irrotational gravity waves, on the surface o f an inviscid, incom ­
pressible fluid o f infinite depth. Let rectangular coordinates (a:, y, z) be taken w ith
the origin in the undisturbed free surface, the z-axis vertically upwards and the
2 -axis in the direction o f propagation. In a wave train o f small surface slope bu t
slowly modulated amplitude and phase (see figure 1 ) the vertical displacement £ o f
the free surface can be expressed in the form
£ = ШеА e«<*+">'—
5*), (2 . 1 )
 1107

3 14 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
where the exponential term represents a carrier wave of wavenumber k = (I, M) and
radian frequency a satisfying the linear dispersion relation for waves in deep water,
п ате1У сгг = дк, (E=|£|) (2.2)
and A represents a slowly changing amplitude and phase, e is a small paiameter
which may be made to tend to zero. It is convenient to choose units o f length and
time so th at 9=1, Ъ = ( 1 , 0), V = 1. (2 .3 )
I t ia well known th at in linear theory the wave envelope is propagated with approxi­
m ately the group-velocity c' = ciajdk = th at is to say A is nearly a function of
(x —c't) alone. More accurately, it can be shown (see D avey & Stewartson 1974 ) that
the evolution o f A is governed by the partial differential equation

2L4r = \ (A „ -2 A ..) + (AA*)A (2.4)

where £, i] and r denote the scaled variables
£ = e(x—c't), ij = ey, т —еЧ. (2.5)
and the suffixes in (2.4) denote partial differentiation, f
The form o f the scaling (2.5) implies an assumption th at the length scales for the
variation of A in any horizontal direction is o f order e- 1 ; in other words the spectral
width is o f order e. From the governing equations it then follows that time-scale for
the evolution of the envelope is o f order e-2.
Equation (2.4) has simple sine wave solutions o f the form
A = а е 1'Л£+^ -« ’), (2.6)
provided th at ш = —i (A2 - 2/i2) -I- £a2. (2.1)
The interpretation of this dispersion relation is very simple. From (2 . 1 ) and (2 .6)
А, ц and (1) are related to the physical wavenumber k — (I, m) and to the physical
frequency a by
(Ix + my —crt) == (А£+/м/ —шт) + (lx+М у—9t).
Substituting from equations (2.3) and (2.5) we have
Z=l +eA, m = efi, a = 1 + £eA + e2o).
Substituting in the dispersion relation
<r2 = ife(l +еа2кг), к2 = Z2+ m 2, (2 .8)
(Lamb 1932 , C. 9) we find th at the terms in e° and e1 are already in agreement, while
those in e2 give precisely equation (2.7). The first two terms on the right hand side
o f (2.7) arise essentially from the curvature of the linearized dispersion relation;
the last teTm is the well-known correction to the w ave speed arising from the finite
amplitude.
f Prom (1) i t w ill be noted th a t our definition of A differs from th a t o f D av ey & Stew artson
(l9 7 4 ) b y a factor of 2. D avey & Stew artso n sta te th a t (2.4) is v a lid asym p to tically as ЬЛ-*-со
(Л = th e depth), provided ekh -*■ 0, b u t furth er in vestigatio n sh o e's th a t the troublesom e
term s in the th ird ap proxim ation are cancelled out in th e n ex t ap proxim atio n. T hus (2.4) is
un ifo rm ly v a lid кд kh -> oc.
1108

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 3 15

P hysically, th e term —£A2 on the right o f (2.7) is associated w ith the fact th at
the dispersion curve a 2 = gl for long-crested w aves (m = 0 ) is convex (see figure 2 a).
This implies th at the envelope o f tw o sine w aves w ith different wavenum bers
(l± e A ), travels slightly slower th an the speed corresponding to the mean wave-
num ber; for, the m idpoint o f th e chord joining two points on the dispersion curve
lies slightly below the curve.

cr

F iquke 2. P lan e sections of th e lin e a r dispersion surfaoe (72 — g(P 4- b y (a) th e a x ia l p lan e
tn = 0, (6) th e tran sverse plane J = 1. In case (a) th e m ean frequen cy corresponding to
ad jace n t w avenum ber lies below th e su rface; in (b) the m ean frequen cy lies ab ove th e
surface.
 1 109

316 M . S . L o n gu et-H ig gin s

The positive term J/ts, on the other hand arises from the fact that the dispersion
surface er2 = gk (where ft2 = Z2 + m2) has axial symmetry. This, together with the
fact th at cr increases with k, implies th at a transverse section of the surface is concave
npwards (see figure 2 b). Hence two waves o f the same wavelength but travelling in
slightly different directions combine to form an envelope which travels faster than
either w ave separately.
The hyperbolic form o f the terms (A2 —2/t2) corresponds to the fact th at the
dispersion surface has principal curvatures of opposite sign. Hence any plane close
and parallel to a tangent plane intersects the surface in a hyperbola, not an ellipse.
The tangent plane itself intersects the surface in two lines which are asymptotes to
th e hyperbola.

3. C o n d it io n s fob , b e s o n a n c e
Consider four elem entaiy waves
= (и =s 1 , 4 ) (3.1)
each satisfying a dispersion relation similar to (2.7), th at is

+ (3 -2 )

where M is a constant, independent o f the suffix n. (Later, M will be identified with

the total action density; see appendix A.) The conditions for resonance are then
(t)1 + o)2 = й>3+&)4 (3.3)

and Ki + Kj = K» + Ki, (3.4)

where k „ = (A^./tJ. From (3.2) and (3.3) we have at once
(Af - 2/t2) + (A| - 2/t») = (A2 - 2/tf) + (Ai - 2/t?). (3.6)
Now (3 .4 ) implies th at k v k 2 and k 3, k 4 are opposite vertices of a parallelogram
(see figure 3). Denoting the centre o f this parallelogram by *?, we m ay write

= к 2 = Я + к 'Д -3 6,
a:3 = H —k ' , = K+ k ’ ,J

where к = (X,/t), к' = (A',/t'), к" = (A'./t"). On substitution in (3.5) we find simply
A'2 —2/t's = A"2—2/t"2. (3.7)
This shows that к1г к 2, к 3 and к4 all lie on the same hyperbola, with centre к and
with asymptotes making an angle arctan (lf*j2) with the £-axis (see figure 3). For
fixed Kj but variable к а, к 3 and к 4, the centre o f the hyperbola is arbitrary and also
the length o f one principal axis, but the directions of the asymptotes are fixed.
The asymptotes can be seen to correspond to the tangents to the figure-of-eight
curve derived by Phillips ( i 960) just at the central point к. The fam ily o f hyperbolae
corresponds to the local aspect o f the fam ily of curves shown by Hasselmann ( 1963 ,
figure 6 ) in the neighbourhood o f the central point.
шо

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum, 317

4. T hu t r a n s f e r o f e n e r g y
Let the envelope function A(£, ц,т) be represented in the form
A = S a7i(T) eltAn£+/‘n7-"rtT)) (4.1)
П
where 0Jn is given by (3.2) and ап(т) is a relatively slowly varying function of r only.
an is complex in general, with slowly varying amplitude and phase. We shall suppose
that the magnitudes of the an are small and their phases uncorrelated, to first order,
and moreover that in the limit, they become densely distributed in wavenumber
space in such a way that when summed over an element cbc
E K < ~ tf(* )d * . (4-2)
n
The function N(k ) corresponds to the local action-density.

F igure 3. Illustrating the conditions for resonant interaction between

four wavenumbers.

Substituting for A from (4.1) into the differential equation (2.4) we see that the
derivatives with respect to £ and t] both cancel. Then on equating coefficients of
e‘(An£+^i») on each side we obtain simply

21 ^ = £ apaQc ^ S ( K P+Ka- K r- K n) (4.3)

V, Q, f

the delta function ensuring that in the triple sum only those terms are retained for
which the exponential factors agree. Multiplying (4.3) by a*/2i and adding the
complex conjugate we obtain
t : (an an) = 2 ap aac$a*e-i<*>P+4i-*>'-°rt-'S(Kp +icQ- K r - K n). (4 .4 )
07 l V.(2.r
 111!

3 18 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
Now since the phases o f the an are assumed to be nearly uncorrelated, the product
apaqa*a* will, on the average, be negligible except when either p = n and q = r, or
else q = n and p = r. Hence the sum reduces to

2ana* 2 aTa*
Г
which is real. Hence the right hand side o f (4.4) vanishes, to order e4. To calculate
higher order terms, we first differentiate the product аг аво*а* with respect to r.
Then substituting from (4.3) we have

2i Xr ((tj a«a? a » )= aQa ? a t 2 aua„c £ З ^ + к ^ -к ^ -к ,,)

' M, V, to

+ apa*a* 2 auazа * 8(KU+ Kv- K „ - K t)

u,v,w

- а радс£ 2 at a*aweK"»-**-"»-***&(ku+ k„ - kw- k t)

U,V, 1Я

- а ра9а* 2 etK+“»^»-"n)T8 ( t c u + K v - K w - K n ). (4.5)

U.C.1D

Now in the first summation we must have either (u,v,w ) = (r,n ,q ) or else
(u,v,w ) = (n,r,q). So taking averages in (4.5) and writing

= 0n (4.6)
we find altogether

2i£T(apata?a*n) = 2(CeCTCn + CpCrCn-C pCt Cn- C pCqCT)

x 8 ( к Р + к я —к г - к п ). (4.7)

Now on integrating with respect to r from —oo (where the correlations are assumed
negligible) up to т and then substituting into (4.4) we obtain

^*** P>Qir J
Г
— 00
№ +Cn)CPC '-(C v + Ct)CTCn}
x (г,_т) 8(kp + k 1 - k t - кп). (4.8)

The factor in square brackets m ay be assumed to v a ry only slowly w ith r' compared
to the rest of the integrand, so that it can be taken outside the integral. We use the
result th at if <u has a small negative imaginary pait, then

J elMSds = Д' + 7тй(£1)),

\o>
(4.9)

where 8(ш) denotes the Dirac delta function. I f we introduce a small artificial
damping into equation (2.4) to indicate the direction o f time, then will have
a small negative imaginary part. In equation (4.8) (<i)p +o)t —<i)T—0)n) must be
1112

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 319

replaced by (qj^ + —ы*), which will have a sm all negative im aginary p art
also, so th a t (4.8) becomes sim ply

= * s [(CT+Cn)CpC ,-(C p + Ct )CTCn]

p,a.r
x S(0)p + w q - <1>; - w l ) . 8 ( K P + K Q- K r - K n ). (4 .1 0 )

F inally, in view o f the relation ( 4 . 2 ) we see th a t ( 4 . 1 0 ) is equivalent to

if =471J-J tW+^)ВД-(л,+л;)ВД] (4.11)

x i j i D j + W j - a j - w , ) 8 { к у + к 2 — к 3 — к 4 ) d f c 2 d K 3 <1л:4

where Nt = W(kt<).
Since NidjCi is equivalent to Mi dfei where k{ = (l + e2Kf) and dfe* = e2dxj, we
see th a t equation (4.11) is o f th e same form aa (1.1). Moreover, when kv k2, k3, kt
are equal, the coupling coefficient does not vanish. On the contrary, we have, in
dimeDsionless units, G( l , l , 1 , 1 ) - t e . (4 . 12 )

One would expect the above value of the coupling coefficient to agree w ith the
value derived from the lengthy expressions given b y Hasselmann ( 1962 , pp. 490,
491 and 1963 , p. 276) on passing to the lim it in a suitable manner, and it can indeed
be verified th at this is so. The details need not be given here.

5. P ro p e rtie s of th e e n e rg y f lu x
From (4. 1 1 ) we can deduce immediately certain properties o f the energy transfer
w ithin the spectral peak. F irst, there will be a tendency for energy to move tow ards
regions of low density. Consider for instance the extreme case shown in figure 4,
where N(k ) vanishes to the left o f a given line in th e wavenum ber plane, and is
positive to the right o f it. I f more than one o f the ic{ lie to the left o f the line, as in
figure 4 a, then clearly the integrand in (4.11) vanishes and there is zero contribution
to the energy flux. I f /cx lies to the left o f the line and к2, k 3, k 4 lie to the right, as in
figure 4b, then the contribution to dNJdr is positive, and is proportional in faot to
N2N3Nt . Altogether, since there will be some appropriate hyperbolae through кг
intersecting the boundary, there w ill be a positive flow o f energy into w ave-
number JCj.
In general we m ay expect th a t the transfer of energy will tend to reduce any
asym m etry in the spectrum.
Suppose next th a t the spectrum is symmetrical, as in figure 6 , but the energy is
confined m ainly to a limited region surrounding the peak density. There w ill be
a tendency for energy to flow outwards from the peak. For, consider an y w ave-
number Kj outside the peak. Provided th at Kj lies elose to an asymptote, it m ay be
possible to find an opposite wavenumber k 2 and two companion w a v e n u m b e r s
 1113

320 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
к а. Kt within the peak itself, such that all lie on the same hyperbola. Since and N2
are small compared to N3 and Nt, the important terms in (4.11) are (JVj + N2)N3Nit
the terms (N3 + Nt)NxN2 being relatively small.
If, however, k 1 lies outside the peak but not near one of the asymptotes A2 = 2/i2
it will be impossible to find any allowable hyperbola intersecting the peak, on which
jc3, k 4 can lie. So there will be a negligible f lu x of energy into кг.

F ig u r e 4. Curves for resonant interaction in an asym m etric spectrum .

F igure 5. C urves for resonant tran sfer of energy to w avenum bera outside
th e sp ectral p eak.

It follows that energy will tend to stream outwards from the peak in the directions
dA = +*j2d/j.. Subsequently, the energy will tend to diffuse from the neighbourhood
of the asymptotes into other parts of the plane.
In short, we may consider the directions defined by dA/dfi = + */2 as defining
characteristics, in a certain sense, for the flow of energy outwards from the peak.
1114

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 321

6. C o n s e rv a tio n la w s
The combined flow o f energy to different parts o f the plane is, however, governed
by certain conservation laws. Thus from (4.11) we have

= 47t j"" -J/ (K 1.K2.«si*4)dj«:1 dK2di£3dK4l

w here/ is a function which is sym m etric in k 1: k 2 or k 3, k 4 b u t antisym m etric in

Кц k 3- Thus, b y interchanging iCj and k 3, say, and adding, we get

^ J J ^ ( K) d « = 0 .

So J*J*^(K)dic = M, constant. (6.1)

Prom (4.1) we have also

^ : J J ,C^ dX= K3,Kt) d « ! d * 2 d#c3d x 4

so th a t by cyclic perm utation o f the Ki3 and adding, we get

d r J J lf^ ( K) dlc = " J ■•■|(Ki+K2- « 3 - « 4 ) / ( K 1 ...... * !)< !* !..., d*4.

B u t since f contains аз a factor the delta-function + —k 3 —k 4) the integral

on the right vanishes. Hence

JJ k N(k ) dK = I, constant. ( 6 .2 )

Sim ilarly JJo)(k).?7(>c) dK = E, constant. (6-3)

Equations (6 . 1 ) and (6 .2 ) together give

J J ( l + e*c)i\r(K)cUc = jjk n ( k ) d k == constant, (6.4)

and sim ilarly equations (6 . 1 ) and (6 .3) give

JJ ^ ^(K)dK = JJ <j(k)n{k)dk — constant. (6.5)

Equation (6 . 1 ) expresses the constancy of the to tal action, and (6.4) and ( 6 .6 )
express the constancy o f the to tal momentum and energy, respectively (see also
appendix A). This is always assuming th a t the contribution to the integrals from
those parts of the spectrum outside the peak can be neglected.
The constancy o f the three spectral moments in (6 . 1 ), (6 .2 ) and (6 .3 ) imposes
certain constraints on the exchange of energy within the peak. Thus if there is a flux
 1115

322 M . S . L o n g u et-H ig g in s

o f energy towards lower wavenumbers к (as there may be in a typical wind-wave

spectrum) there must also be compensating flux towards much higher wavenumbers,
to maintain the mean wavenumber constant. And if there is some flux into the zones
where ш(к) > <у0 there must be a compensating flux into the zones where
oj(k ) < o)0.

7. Equilibrium s p b c ib a

Does an equilibrium spectrum exist ? The argument of § 5 makes it appear unlikely

th at there could be a continuous spectrum, with finite total energy, for whioh N > 0
andSA 7/S( = 0 everywhere. For if the total energy is finite, the density must be low in
certain parts o f the к -plane, especially at large distances. Hence energy will tend to
flow into these areas, particularly in the direction of the characteristics dA/dfi = ±^2.
The equilibrium solutions quoted by Hagselmann (1963 ) in which

ж+жгжгж- 0 <7 Л >

for all tetrads satisfying the resonance conditions, imply that

+ (7.2)

where P, Q and R are constants. I f either P or Q is not zero, then N(k ) becomes
negative for some к. I f P and Q both vanish, but not R, then the density ia uniform
and the total energy is infinite. In neither case does the solution have any physical
significance.
The nearest approach to an equilibrium spectrum appears to be when the energy
is concentrated in the form o f isolated delta functions, or along a pair o f charac­
teristic lines. Both forms, however, would appear to be unstable with respect to the
addition of small amounts of energy in other parts of the plane.

8. S l D E - B A N D I N S T A B I L I T I E S
The stability of the pure sine wave (2 . 1 1 ), considered as a wave of finite amplitude,
m ay be discussed by means o f equation (2.4) itself (see D avey & Stewartson 1974 )-
Slightly generalizing their result, we set
A = а ( 1 + а ')е 1(А£+',’ -",+^ , (8.1)
where a' and в' are real functions representing small perturbations of the solution
(2.11). Substituting in equation (2.4) and retaining only first order terms in o' and 6‘
we obtain, ftom the real and imaginary parts, the tw o equations
1116

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 323

Then a', 6' w ill have solutions
o' =
(8.3)
в' —
provided that
[о/ + 1(AA' - 2/л/*')]2 = J(A'! - 2/i'2) ША'2 - 2/i'2) - a 2]. (8.4)

The im aginary p a rt o f ш' w ill be non-zero, and hence there m ay be instability, i f the
rig h t hand side is negative, th a t is to say if

0 < A'2 - 2/i'2 < 8a 2. (8.5)

Hence for instability, (A', /i') lies in a zone bounded by the hyperbola (A'2 —2fi'2) = 8a 2
and the two asym ptotes A' 2—2/i'2 = 0. The fastest-growing instabilities are such
th a t the right hand side o f (8.4) is a minimum, th at is when

A' 2—2/t' 2 = 4a2. (8.6)

Then ( A l i e s on a hyperbola centre (0 , 0 ) and with vertices (+ 2a, 0).

For w aves o f small amplitude, the instabilities will all tend to he close to the
asym ptotes /i'/A' = +^/2 . This suggests a close relation between this ty p e o f
in stab ility and the type described in § 5 .
H owever, this side-band instability, which is essentially an extension o f the one­
dimensional instability discovered by Benjamin & Feir ( 1962 ), is essentially
dependent on the initial phases. In this respect it is quite different from the phase-
averaged exchange o f energy discussed in §§ 4 and 5 . In the side-band instab ility the
flow o f energy can theoretically be reversed; in the phase-averaged theory the flow
ia irreversible.

where N0, P, Q are constants. W e use the form o f the flux equation (4.11) derived in
appendix В (equations (B 8 ) and (B 10)). A t the peak itself, where KL= (0,0) so
к = к', the expression for F contains four exponentials, each with a factor a.. The
integrations with respect to a may be carried out immediately, giving
AT Л00 Лai
-jr-i = 16иАГ2 Ф(Р, Q, в’, в") d<9' &в\ (9.2)
^ J —O
OJ —to

where Ф is a rational function of P, Q and of cosh в', sinhfl', cosh0', sinhO”. Also
Ф is symmetric in P and Q. The integral in (9.2) is easily evaluated numerically,
giving
(9.3)

21 Vol. 347 A.
 1117

324 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
where Л is the function shown in table 1. I t can be seen th at H is a maximum when
P/Q = 1 and th at even over ao wide a range as 0.2 < P/Q < 5.0 the value o f Я differs
from 1/(1) by less than 2 %. Thus for all practical purposes we m ay take

H(P/Q) = E( 1 ) = 32.9. (9.4 )

To express the result in terms o f convenient parameters, let a denote the r.m.s.
w ave amplitude defined by

a - - S « na ; - 2 j j A ,( « , d * . ;i p g j (9 .5 )

and let Au A 2 denote the width o f the spectrum, in the f and ij directions, at half the
peak amplitude, so

and (2PQ)i = 4 In 4/(zl 1Л2). Then (9.3) may be written

Ш 5»
э г * - ° - 72л * т г (9-7)
In other words, the peak density tends to diminish at a rate proportional to the
sixth power of the mean-square amplitude, and inversely as the square of the band­
w idth in each direction; and almost independently o f the shape o f the peak.

T a b l e 1. C a l c u l a t e d v a l u e s of H(PIQ)

P Q P— or —
Q
H H
Q 01 P Q P
1.0 32.91 0.08 30.31
0.5 32.82 0.06 29.41
0.4 32.76 0.04 27.88
0.3 32.69 0.02 24.74
0.2 32.19 0.01 21.33
0.1 30.91 0.00 0.00

10. C o n c l u s i o n s
W e have shown th at the assumption o f a narrow spectrum enables the transfer
o f energy within the spectral peak to be discussed in much simpler terms. The
coupling coefficient has been evaluated explicitly, and is positive, not zero. In the
wavenumber plane, the curves for resonantly interacting waves are simple hyper­
bolae and there is a tendency for energy to spread outwards from the peak in direc­
tions making angles arctan ( 1 Д/2 ) w ith the mean direction.
The possibility o f a steady, continuous spectrum, with finite total energy, is ruled
out. For a normal spectrum, the energy density at the peak frequency tends always
to dimmish, though at a rate critically dependent on the mean-square amplitude
and on the spectral width (equation (9.7)).
1118

Transfer of energy in the peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 325

A fu rther discussion o f the effects o f asym m etry in the spectrum, and o f the
relative im portance o f contributions from outside the spectral peak, w ill be given
in a second paper.

I am indebted to Mr M. J .H .F o x for confirming the calculations in §9.

A p p e n d i x A. I n t e g r a l s of t h e e n v e l o p e e q u a t io n
Starting from equation (2.4), let us m ultiply each side b y A *. Then subtracting
the complex conjugate we obtain

2 i (A A *)T= J[ (AsA * - A A f ) g- 2 ( A 4A * - A A f ) v]. (A 1)

Suppose A is statistically uniform over the (^ ^ -p la n e . On integrating over a large

area of linear dimensions L, the left hand side is 0(Ь г) while the right hand side,
b y the Green theorem, reduces to a line integral and so is 0(Z). Hence dividing b y L
and letting oo we get
(AAJ), = 0, (A 2)

where an overhar denotes the average value with respect to (£, rj). So

\AA* = M, (A 3)
a constant. Sim ilarly we find

2i(A^A* —AA*)T= Xg + Yv, |

2i ( ^ * - ^ ) r = Z , - ^ J

where X = (AA*)\ 7 = ^ (A £A *~ A A *V). (A 5)

This leads to

± ( А ;А * - А А ? ) = Л,|
(A 6 )
j. ( A vA * - A A f ) = /2,j

where Ix and I2 are real constants. Thirdly, wo find

2i [At A ? - 2A4A* + 4 (AA *)*]т = Ц + Vv (A 7)

where U = { ( А ^ - А ^ - Ц А ^ - А . А ^ +А А ^ А ^ -А А ^ ), 1
V = - MAfrAf - A SA^) + (Av4A f - А ЧА*Ч) - 2AA*(AVA * - A A * ) J

Hence \(Al A * - 2 A 4A*) + i[A A *)i = 2E (A 9)

say. The relations (A 3), (A 6 ) and (A 9) correspond respectively to the conservation
of action, momentum and energy.
 1119

326 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
I f in equation (A 3) we substitute the gaussian form (4.1) we find on taking
averages that
M = = J J iV M d * . (A 10)
Sim ilarly from (A 6 )

(Л. h ) = J J kN(k) Ak. ( Al l )

The expression for (A A *)5 is a quadruple sum, which on taking average reduces to

2 (a„ ^ ) 2 + 0(o«). (A 12)

n m n
As the number o f terms in the summation increases, the second group becomes
negligible compared to the first. So to order e* we have

(AA*)2 = SM2. (A 13)

Hence (A 9) becomes

2E = JJ[- - 2/i2) + 2M] 2N(k ) die, (A 14)

th at is E = JJwiV(K)dA:, (A 15)

where ш = —J(A 2 —2/t2) + 2M (A 16)

in accordance with the dispersion relation (3.2).
From the two-dimensional form of equation (2.4), without the term in A n ,
Zakharov & Shabat have derived an infinite sequence o f conservation laws, and it
should he possible to do the same for equation (2.4) in the general case also. How­
ever, this sequence o f laws involves successively higher powers o f e (the expressions
in (A 3 ), (A 6 ) and (A 9) are proportional to e2, e3 and e1 respectively. Since the original
equation (2.4) is correct only to order e3, the relations beyond n = 4 will have no
physical meaning in the present context.

A p p e n d ix B. T r a n s f o r m a t io n o f e q u a tio n (4.11)
To calculate the energy transfer in particular cases it is convenient to transform
equation (4.11) as follows. Because of the delta-function ^(Kj + Kj —к 3—л:4) in the
integrand, we can integrate with respect to k 3 by writing
K3 = K1 + K2—Ki = к1 + к , —к".
Then, since к 2 = kx + 2 k ' and*r4 = « ! + « ' + «" we have
0 (k 2, k 4)
= 2. (В 1)
0(k', K")
So (4.11) becomes

- 8* J ... J F( kv к") + a , - u>3 - cot) d*' d ( В 2)

1120

Transfer of energy in the 'peak of a gravity-wave spectrum 327

w here J 1stands for the square bracket in equation (4.11). To eliminate the remaining
delta-function in equation (B 2) we now w rite
a' = Л'2 - 2ft'*, cc" = A"2 - 2/t"2, (B 3)
so th a t + — — = £[J(a" —a')] = 4S(a/'~ a') (B 4)
and i f /?', /Г are a rb itrary functions o f (A',fi') and (A“,ft") then

J‘W^)- “ £ +*5Р-
т . Э ( а ' , Я n „ 0 /?' , M ' /T)

(B5)
w ith a similar expression fo r J". Hence (B 2 ) becomes

in which a ', a" are both set equal to a.

W hen a > 0 we m ay take simply /?' = fi' and /3" = ft" so J ' = 2A' and J" = 2/г".
Then substituting
A' = + a4 cosh в 2 /i' = a i sinh 0'Л
A' = + cosh 6", 2 = a i sinh 0 ",J
we find for the contribution to dNJ&r

4n E f “ f “ [ ° F dad d'dff" (B 8)
Jo
the sum being taken over the four combinations o f signs for A' and A".
W hen а < 0 we make precisely similar substitutions except th at a is replaced
by - a .

R eferen ces
B enjam in, Т. B . & Feir, J . E. 1967 The disintegration of w ave train s on deep water. P a rt I.
Theory. J . F luid Mech. 27, 417-430.
B enney, D. J . & Roskes, G. J . 1969 W ave instabilities. Stud- appl. M ath. 48, 377—385.
Chu, V. H. & Mei, С. C. 1970 On slowly varyin g Stokes waves. J . Fluid. Mech. 41, 873-887.
Chu, V, H. & Mei, С. C. 1971 The non-linear evolution of Stokes waves in deep w ater. J . F lu id
Mech. 47, 337-351.
D avey, A. & Stewartson, K . 1974 On three-dimensional packets of surface waves. Proc.
R . Soc. Lond. A 338, 101-110.
Hasimoto, H. & Ono, H. 1972 Nonlinear modulation of grav ity waves. J . Phys. Soc. Ja p . 33,
805-811.
Hasselmann, K . 1962 On the non-linear energy transfer in a gravity-w ave spectrum . P a rt 1.
Genera] theory. J . F lu id Mech. 12, 481-500.
H asselmann, K . 1963 On the non-linear energy transfer in a gravity-w ave spectrum . P a rt 2.
J . F luid Mech. 15, 273-281. P art 3. 15, 385-398.
Hasselmann, K . et al. 1973 Measurements of wind-wave growth and swell decay during the
joint North Sea wave project. Erganzungsheft zur Deutsch. Hydrogr. Z . A 12, 95 pp.
Karpman, V. I. & K rushkal, E . M. 1969 M odulated waves in non-linear dispersive m edia.
Sov. Phys. J .B .T .P . 28, 277-281.
Lam b, H. 1932 H ydrodynamics, 6th ed. Cambridge U niversity Press.
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. 1962 Resonant interactions between two trains of g ra v ity waves.
J . F luid Mech. 12, 321-332.
 1121

328 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
Longuet-Higgins, M. S. & Sm ith, N. D. 1966 An experiment on third order resonant wave
interactions. J . F luid Mech. 25, 417—435.
McGoldrick, L. F ., Phillips, О. М., Huang, N. & Hodgson, T. 1966 Measurements on resonant
w ave interactions. J . F luid Mech. 25, 437-445.
Phillips, О. M. i g 6o On the dynamics of unsteady grav ity waves of finite amplitude. P a rt 1.
J . F luid Mech. 11, 143-155.
Webb, D. J . 1974 On the energy transfer in w ave-wave interactions. Collogues Europiens d e
M&canique (Euromech) No. 35, Marseille, Sept. 1974. (Abstract.)
Zakharov, V. E. & Shabat, A. B. 19 7 1 Exact theory of two-dimensional self-focusing and
one-dimensional self-modulation of waves in nonlinear media. Sov. Phys. J.E .T J * . 24,
62-69.
 1123

Introductory Notes for Part К

К. Steep, Steady G ravity Waves

Papers K1 to K28

Solving the classical problem o f the form o f steep irrotational gravity waves in
w ater o f uniform depth involves generally the use o f rather elaborate num erical
m ethods. For practical purposes an approxim ate, single expression is more
useful. T hree o f the papers in the present section, namely K l, K ll and K28,
propose very sim ple one-term approxim ations for the highest w ave in deep water.
The first is accurate to w ithin 3 percent. The second is accurate only to 5 percent
but gives easily som e Lagrangian properties such as the Stokes drift. The third
and m ost recent paper K28 gives the w ave height to within 0.2 percent, and the
w hole surface profile to w ithin 0.7 percent.
The num erical calculation o f very steep w aves o f nearly the m axim um height
presents special difficulties. A new w ay to calculate the wave profile, nam ely
by w orking dow nw ards from the steepest w ave, was presented in three papers,
К б, K7, and K9. The third o f these provides a sim ple approxim ation to the exact
expression. A corresponding theory for the solitary w ave is given in K27.
Integral properties o f progressive w aves such as the potential and kinetic
energies, the w ave speed, the total linear m om entum and the angular m om entum ,
are treated in Papers K2, К З, K4, K5, К 15, and К 16. Paper K4 derives also som e
im portant differential relations betw een them.
W ater w aves are often more conveniently considered from a Lagrangian point
o f view, particularly the particle trajectories (see Papers K 12, K 14, K24, K28)
and particle accelerations (K 20, K21). A discussion o f the relation betw een the
Lagrangian and the Eulerian view points can be found in K22.
The rem aining papers, (K 8), (K17) and (K 19) are especially relevant to the
calculation o f progressive, irrotational w ater w aves o f finite am plitude. The new
relations discovered in (K 8) greatly sim plify the calculations. T he asym ptotic
behavior o f S tokes’s coefficients a„ at high values o f n is given a physical
derivation in K19.
К. Steep, Steady G ravity Waves
 1 127

P roc. S . Soc. Lond. A. 331, 445-450 (1973)

P rinted in Great Britain

On the form of the highest progressive and

standing waves in deep water

B y M. S. L o n g t j e t - H i g g i n s , F.R.S.
National Institute of Oceanography, Wormley, Surrey,
and Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics,
Cambridge University

{.Received 2 0 J u ly 1 972)

The form of a progressive gravity wave on deep water, which generally must he found by
numerical intogration (Michell 1893) is shown to be approximated with remarkable accu­
racy b y a single term. Six consecutive waves are transformed conformally so as to surround
the point corresponding to infinite depth. The free surface then corresponds closely to the
boundary of a hexagon.
In a sim ilar w ay the profile of a standing wave is closely approximated to by transforming
fo u r consecutive waves conformally and taking the profile as the boundary of a square. The
profile agrees closely with that calculated by Penney & Price (1952) and with the experi­
ments of Taylor (i9S3)-

1. I n t b o d u o t i o n
The problem o f determining the exact form of a progressive gravity wave in deep
■water has puzzled mathematicians since the last century. Stokes ( 1880) found a
local solution valid near a discontinuity in surface slope, which suggested th at the
angle at the crest should he 120 °. Michell (1893 ) added to Stokes’s term a Fourier
series in the potential function, and so calculated the entire profile o f the free surface
numerically. Michell took into account only four terms o f the series. His calcula­
tions were carried a step further by Havelock ( 1918 ). The convergence of the series,
though not proved rigorously, has been further discussed by Jeffreys ( 19 5 1 ), who
used a Richardson extrapolation to reduce an apparent discrepancy in Havelock’s
results. For the ratio of the wave height to the wavelength both Michell and H ave­
lock found a value of about 0.142.
A method comparable to Michell’s was suggested by Nekrasov ( 1920 ), whose
calculations have been carried to greater accuracy by Yamada (1957)1 'with essen­
tially the same result.
A quite different method o f approximation, leading possibly to the same numerical
result, was given by Davies (1951 ).
The results of all these calculations are summarized in table i, together with a
two-term approximation to the velocity field suggested by W ilton ( 1913 ). This,
however, has the disadvantage o f requiring a discontinuity in vertical velocity in
each vertical plane through a w ave crest.
The purpose of the present note is to point out an approximate expression for
the wavo profile, still simpler than W ilton’s, which nevertheless agrees with the

[ 445 ] Vol. 3 31. A. (16 January 19 73)

1128

446 M. S. L onguet-H iggins

T a b le 1 . C a lc u la tio n s o f th e r a tio o f w av e h e ig h t to w a v e le n g th
IN A P R O G R E S S IV E GRA VIT Y W A V E |
series firs t a p p ro x im a tio n
(
num ber
HjL o f te rm s Я/i e rro r re m a rk s
M ichel! ( 1893 ) Л pro file d e te rm in e d b y
0 .1 4 2 5 0 .157 0 .0 1 5
H a v e lo c k ( i g i 8 )J n u m e ric a l in te g ra tio n
N e k ra s o v ( 1920 ) \
0 .1 4 1 12 0.157 0 .0 1 5 n u m e ric a l in te g ra tio n
Y a m a d a {19 5 7 ) J
D a v ie s ( 1 9 5 1 ) 0 .1 4 4 3 0 .1 2 6 -0 .0 1 6 n u m e ric a l in te g ra tio n
W ilto n ( 19 13 ) — — 0.131 0.011 v e lo c ity d isc o n tin u o u s
th is p a p e r — — 0.137 - 0 .0 0 5 p rofile e x p lic it

calculated profile to about 3 % (see table 1 and figure 3). In this approxim ation the
profile is in fact given simply by y = ^ (1 л )

where x and у are horizontal and vertical coordinates, suitably scaled. The curve is
carried to the point where the tangent is inclined a t 30 ° to the horizontal. Such a
simple expression m ay be useful in certain applications, as for instance in calculating
the force of high waves against slender structures.
The derivation of (1.1) is given in §§ 2 to 4 of the present paper. In §6 it is shown
th a t a similar expression is valid also for the standing wave on deep water. The only
difference is th a t th e curve ( 1 . 1 ) m ust be extended to where the tangent is inclined
a t 46° to the horizontal. The profile is in good agreement with the observations of
Taylor ( 1953 ), and with the small-amplitude expansion given by Penney & Price
(1952). The investigation draws attention to the fact th a t the exact nature of the
flow near the sharp crest of a standing wave of maximum am plitude is still an u n ­
solved problem.

2. T h e p ro g re s s iv e w ave

L et (x,y) denote horizontal and vertical coordinates with у directed vertically

upwards. The motion being assumed irrotational and incompressible, the velocity
potential ф and streamfunction ijr are conjugate harmonic functions, and x “ (Ф+ ift)
is a regular function of z = (x + iy) and of the time t. Let axes be chosen travelling
horizontally with the phase velocity c. Then the flow is reduced to a steady state and
we have simply ^ = ^ (2 . 1 )

w h e re /is analytic in z everywhere except possibly on the boundary. As у -*■—со we

have (2.2)
—cz.

t Note added in proof, IS November 1972. P ro b a b ly t h e m o st a c c u ra te c alcu la tio n s h a v e

b e en m a d e v e ry re c e n tly b y S c h w a rtz ( 1972 ), "who h a s ta k e n c e rta in series e x p a n s io n s to
m o re th a n th e se v e n tie th d e g ree . W ith th e a id o f S hajiks tra n s fo rm s a n d Pad<5 a p p r o x i m a t e
h e o b ta in s H jL as 0 .1 4 1 2 .
 1129

H ighest progressive and standing waves in deep water 447

In (2 . 1 ) к is a positive constant such th at 2—Jkia an integer multiple of the wavelength

L. Let us choose the unit of length so th at
*=1. (2.3)
Then under the transformation

£ = £ o e_i2> fo constant, (2.4)

the flow field becomes regular and single-valued everywhere except at the point
С = 0, which corresponds to ‘infinite d ep th ’. As £ -+ 0 we must have

X - -ic ln £ . (2.5)

Suppose now th at the horizontal distance (27i/it) contains six wavelengths, so

th at 2njk = 6L, L = $7r. (2.6)
Then in the £-plane the contour 0 which represents the surface of six consecutive
waves will have hexagonal symmetry, as in figure 1 .

F ig u r e 1. T h e form assu m ed b y six co nsecutive progressive w aves u n d e r th e eonform al

tra n s fo rm a tio n (2.4). T he origin corresponds to a p o in t a t infinite d ep th .

Now since the transformation ( 2 . 4 ) is eonformal, the sharp angles in the contour
С will, by Stokes’sresult, be equal to 1 2 0 ° . B ut 1 2 0 ° is the interior angle of a hexagon.
Consider then the segment of С lying between two consecutive wave crests. At each
end of the segment, С touches one side of the hexagon. So as an approximation to С
we draw a straight line between the two consecutive crests. In other words, we
suppose th at C coincides with the boundary of the hexagon.

3. C o n se q u e n c e s o f th e a p p r o x im a t io n

The equation of the side of a hexagon is simply

r = rosec( 0 - 0 „). (3 1 )
where r and в are polar coordinates in the £-plane, and r 0 and 0a are the radial
ag-a
1 13 0

448 M. S. L onguet-ffiggins

distance and polar angle of the m id-point of one side. I f we choose the origin of
{x, y) to be in a trough, so th a t r 0 elflo = £0 = e^iir, then equation (3.1) becomes
у = In sec a;, ja| jS £тг, (3.2)
as stated earlier. (In dimensional coordinates both z and у should be m ultiplied by
h = 7i/ 3 X.) This profile is shown in figure 2. I t has the general property
dy/dx = tana;. (3.3)
A t th e end-point x = £тг, the tangent m akes an angle of 30° w ith the horizontal, in
conform ity w ith Stokes’s result.
The wave height S m easured from trough (x = 0) to crest (x = ^tc) is equal to
In s e c s o th a t

This’differs from Havelock’s estim ate 0.1418 by an am ount 0.0044, or about 3 % .|

In figure 2 are also plotted the numerical values calculated by Michell ( 1 8 9 3 )
by integrating numerically four term s of his series for dz/d<fi. The constant of integra­
tion is adjusted so th a t у vanishes a t x = 0 . I t can be seen th a t the points lie, for
m ost practical purposes, on the theoretical curve.
The mean level y, according to equation (3.2), is given by
6 f i 17
у = —I InsecxcLc = 0.0470. (3-5)

T hus the height of the wave crest above the mean level satisfies
H -v 0.0968 „v
~ X T “ T(ii72 = ° 0926- (»•«)

4. V a lid ity or th e a p p ro x im a tio n

Could the approxim ation ( 1 . 1 ) be exact? We shall examine the question by

evaluating the corresponding field of motion and then calculating the pressure p s at
th e hypothetical free surface. For the solution to be exact, p s should be constant.
To find the velocity field, let us first transform the hexagonal boundary of figure 1
into the unit circle j "HF| = 1 by means of the Schwarz-Christoffel transform ation
rw лш
(4 .1 )
b Jo (1-И")»
a v y

(see, for example, Nehari 1952). Here К is a constant. Since the vertices C — V i е*1п1Т
are to be transformed into the points IF = е*,,пг, n = 1 , . . . , 6, we must have

2 Г dX _ 3 Й ) Ц _ 1 1129 ,4 2)
£ 7 3 - J o ( l - X « ) i _ 44( - i ) ! ‘ 1-1129- ( ' }
This constant will be denoted by a.
j' T h e re c e n t e stim a te b y S ch w artz (see fo o tn o te to §1) is still closer.
 1131

Highest progressive and standing waves in deep water 449

450 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

E quation (4.1) shows th a t near the origin £ ~ K W . Therefore by (2.5)

X — —icln W.
B u t i}r = Im(;y) is to be a constant on the boundary | W\ = 1. Choosing this con­
sta n t suitably, we have then
X = -ic ln W (4.3)
precisely.
The pressure p a a t th e free surface is found from Bernoulli’s equation. Choosing
the units of mass and tim e so th a t the density and gravitational acceleration are
both unity we have
~P s = y + £|dx/clz|2+ constant. (4.4)
B u t from (2.4) d£/dz = - i £ . (4.5)

Thus — = — —£( 1- I 7«) i (4.6)

dz dzdC dJf ; K '

and —p B = In |£| +^(c/jST)2 j £ | 2 | 1 —PTe|$ + constant. (4.7)

To make p s vanish a t th e crest W = 1, we set the constant term equal to —In (Ка).
Now from (4.1) we have in general
Cw AW
= < ir ^ <“ »
and so on the boundary W = e’“
g /tf-a + e » * -7 (a ), (4.9)

where 1(a) — f ----- 7------ г . (4.10)

' Jo (2 sin 3 a)*
From (4.9) we see th a t

|£ /Z |2 = (а -\1 )* + С^-1)* = a * - a I + P , (4.11)

and so (4.8) becomes
—p a —In ----^ - i - ^ - + fc 2(a2—а7 + / 2)(2вш За)4. (4.12)

I f рц is to be constant in the neighbourhood of the crest а = 0, then (4.12) m ust

be independent of a when a is sm all Expanding the right-hand side of (4.12) in
powers of a and equating to zero the coefficient of a? we find
сг = l/4 a3. (4.13)

However, the coefficient of does not then vanish, so th a t the pressure is not quite
uniform. To gauge the departure of p s from a constant value we use (4.12) to calcu­
late the pressure in the trough, а = Неге / = \ a , and t h e right-hand side of (4.12)
becomes
V3 + 3 x 4 *
 1133

Highest progressive and standing waves in deep water 451

This is to be compared to the hydrostatic pressure difference In (2 Д/3 ) = 0.1438.

Though relatively small, (4.14) is sufficient to show th a t the pressure at the surface
is not precisely zero. The solution is therefore only approximate.
I t would no doubt be possible to use the present solution as the first term of a
systematic approximation, for example by perturbing the hexagonal boundary
and then adding to x a power series in W6. We shall not do this, since the interest
and value of the approximation lies in the simplicity of the first term ( 1 . 1 ).

6. T h e sta n d in g w ave

For the standing wave of maximum amplitude there is as yet no known limiting
form corresponding to Stokes's 120° angle. Penney & Price (1952 ) pointed out that
a t a sharp crest the two components of the gradient in the directions of the free
surface m ust vanish; so the vertical acceleration a t the crest is equal to —g. (At the
crest of a progressive wave it is —\g\ see Longuet-Higgins 1963 .) Penney & Price
also argued th a t if the pressure can be developed in a Taylor series near the crest (a
questionable assumption) then the simplest solution is one in which the crest angle is
90°. These authors also carried a small-amplitude expansion to the fifthf order in
the expansion param eter A . Equating the maximum vertical acceleration to —g
they obtained a maximum value for A and found that, for this value of A, the corre­
sponding surface profile did indeed have a maximum slope near to 45°.
N ot being satisfied with the argument of Penney & Price, Taylor ( 1953 ) generated
standing waves experimentally, and found th at the observed profile of the highest
waves lay very close to a smooth wave drawn through Penney & Price’s theoretical
profile. Hence, whether or not Penney & Price’s argument is correct, it appears th at
the angle a t the crest is a t least very close to 90° -probably within 1 °.
This being so, the argument of §2 suggests th at a good approximation to the
profile of a standing wave may be obtained by making the same transformation as
in (2.4) b u t taking 2tt/k = 4L, L = \ я. (5 . 1 )
W enow place four (not six) consecutive waves round a circle in the f-plane. The wave
crests, a t the instant of maximum surface elevation, lie at the vertices of a square
(figure 3). I f the angle at the crest is 90°, then the contour 0 representing the free
surface touches the sides of the square at each end. We approximate С by taking it
to be the boundary of the square itself.
Transforming back to the (x, ?/)-plane we find as before th at the surface profile is
given by 1/ = Insect, |ж| < £;t. (6 .2 )
This is the same curve as (3.2) b ut is now carried out to the point where the tangent
makes an angle of 45° with the horizontal (figure 4).
t T h e algebraic m a n ip u la tio n s involved in th e sm all a m p litu d e a p p ro x im a tio n ra p id ly
becom e v e ry co m plicated. P e n n e y & P ric e ’s E u le ria n calcu latio n s h a v e been c hecked a s fa r
as th e th ir d ord er b y T a d jb a k h s h & K eller ( ig 6o). A c alcu la tio n in L ag ra n g ia n c o o rd in ates
w as re p o rte d b y Sekerzh-Z en’kovioh ( 1947 ), b u t his resu lts will be fo u n d to be in co n siste n t
w ith b o th o f th e E u le rian calcu latio n s ju s t referred to .
1134

452 M. S. Longuet-H iggins

The height of the wave from trough to crest is given by H = Lnsec ( J t t ) so th a t

Я In (V2 ) __ 0.3466
= 0.2206. (5.3)
L $тг 1.6708
Penney & Price ( 1 9 5 2 ) found U jL к 0.218, so th a t the difference is about 1% .
(This difference is no greater th a n the last term retained by Penney & Price in their
series for the vertical acceleration.)
The mean level, according to (5.2), is given by
4 f i 11
y = - I lnseca'da; = 0.1100, (5-4)
71J 0

H -lj 0.2366
so th a t = 0.1506. (5.5)
L 1.6708
The value given by Penney & Price is 0.141, a difference of 7 %. Taylor ( 1953 ) found
experim entally
H jL = 0.119, 0.129, 0.150 (mean 0.133).
However, the instability of the free surface near the wave crest m ade the experi­
m ental determ ination of the crest height rather uncertain.

f-p la n e

F ic . u r e 3. T h e form assu m ed b y fo u r c onsecutive s ta n d in g w aves

u n d e r th e eonform al tra n s fo rm a tio n (2.4)

Figure 4 shows the complete set of experimental points (Taylor 1953 ) compared
to the wave profile given by equation (5.2), (full line), and by the fifth approxim a­
tion of Penney & Price ( 1952 ) (broken line). I t can be seen th at the experiments
agree better on the whole with the simple approximation (5.2), even in the wave
trough, where the Fourier series might be expected to give the most satisfactory
representation.
Figttbe 4. The profile of a standing wave in deep w ater. Plotted points represent the experiments of Taylor ( 1 9 5 3 ). T h e
broken curve represents the fifth-order sm all-am plitude approxim ation of Penney & Price ( 1952 ) with A = 0.5916.
Highest progressive and standing waves in deep water

The full curve represents у = y+ In sec x.

453
1135
1136

454 M. S. L onguet-H iggins

6. The v e l o c it y f i e l d

The initial motion corresponding to the surface profile (5.2) m ay be found very
simply. As in §4, we transform the square boundary into a u n it circle | W\ = 1 by
writing ,w jprr
и Trl П (6.1)
( 1 - Ж 4)*’

w h ere»™ J* (I)* (* )!•_ 1.3110. (6.2)

We denote this constant by b.

A t the initial in stan t t = 0 when the fluid is a t rest, Bernoulli’s equation applied
a t th e free surface gives simply
Щ Ы = —In |g|. (6.3)
Consider then th e complex potential
X = t]n(WIQ. (6.4)
This expression is analytic everywhere in the interior of the fluid including the
origin, where f ~ K W . Moreover ф = Re (x) satisfies the boundary condition (6.3).
Hence (6.4) represents the initial field of motion.
The components of velocity (u ,v ) are given by

w > d2 b d£ \ W d £ /* '

or from (6 . 1 ) (m—it>) = if 1 —~ —^ . (6-®)

In particular, on the boundary W = e1^ (0 < /? < |тг) we have

— ^ ^ = e ^ i1T(2sin2/?)£ (6.7)

and Q K = b + eilTrJ(jff), ( 6 .8 )

where </(/?) = f ---- — —

Jo (2sin2y?)4
Hence (w—in) = it[(l —b sin&2 /?)+ i(b + 24J) sini 2 /?]. (6.10)
The function J(ft) may be expressed in term s of the Legendre elliptical integral

J (fl,«)=■ [* . f . 2fl~r (6 -11)

Jo ( l - s m sasm 2 e)i
as follows: J(ft) = 8 ~ iF(ji, Jit) where соз/и — tan (Jti —ft). (6.12)
From these expressions one can easily compute the initial displacements a t the free
surface.
 1137

Highest progressive and standing waves in deep water 455

7. N e ig h b o u r h o o d of th e c ee st

To investigate the form of (6.4) near the crest W — 1 , write W = l + w and

f = 2 i + £'. Then from ( 6 . 1 ) and (6 .2 )
£' = - L K {coi-iw i + 0((oi)), (7.1)
so th at w4 = (ilK )£' + 0(£*). (7.2)
From ( 6 .6 ) we then find
u —iv — i£[l —2i<yi(b —i<u&+ 0(<d))J
= i t [ l + 2 (Ь1К)? + 0 ( П ] (7-3)
~iH(l + 2ib 2n . (7.4)
To first order in £' this represents a linear strain, superposed on a uniform downwards
velocity (with acceleration —g). The angular deflexion у of the initial trajectory from
the downwards vertical is given by
у = arctan (u/v) ~ —2ibbi, (7.5)
where rj = Im (£') ~ —*j2x'. Since L = we thus find
у ~ пЪъ(х'Щ = 5.38{z'lL). (7.6)
This is in good agreement with the form of the initial displacement near the crest as
shown by Penney & Price (1952 , figure 2). Thus for the trajectory nearest the
crest in their figure 2 we estimate x']L к 0.396, so th at equation (7.6) gives
7 » 12 °.
Since (7.4) is analytic in t near the crest, it follows th at to this order in t equation
(6.4) represents a smooth flow, in which sharp comers in the free surface cannot be
either created or destroyed. I t can be shown th at the creation of a sharp crest
involves the consideration of terms in %of higher order in t. The description of these
effects is left for a separate investigation.

R eferen ces

D avies, Т. V. 1951 T h eo ry of sy m m etrical g ra v ity w aves of finite a m p litu d e . Proc. R . Soc.

Land. A 208, 475-486.
H av elo ck , Т . H . 1918 Periodic « ro ta tio n a l w aves o f finite h e ig h t. Proc. R . Soc. Lond. A
95, 38-51.
Jeffreys, H . 1951 O n th e h ig h est g ra v ity w aves on deep w a ter. Q. J l. Mech. appl. Math. 4 ,
386-387.
L on g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1963 T h e g en eratio n o f c ap illa ry w aves b y ste ep g ra v ity w aves.
J . F luid Mech. 1 6 , 138-159.
M ichell, J . H. 1893 T h e h ig h est w aves in w a ter. Phil. Mag. (5) 36, 430-437.
N e h ari, L . 1952 CanformaL mapping, p p . ЗЙЙ. N ew Y o rk : M cG raw H ill.
N e k raso v , A . I . 1920 O n S to k es’s w av e (in R u ssian ). Izv. Ivan.-Voznesensk. politekh. Inst.
pp. 81-89.
P e n n e y , W . G. & P rice, A. T. 1952 F in ite p eriodic s ta tio n a ry g ra v ity w aves in a p erfect
fluid. Phil. Trans. R . Soc. Lond. A 244, 254—284.
456 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

S c h w a rtz , L . W . 1972 A n a ly tic c o n tin u a tio n o f S to k e s ’ e x p a n s io n fo r g r a v ity w aves. P h .D .

d is s e rta tio n , S ta n fo rd U n iv . D ec. 1972.
S e k e rz h -Z e n ’k o v ich , Y a . I . 1947 O n th e th e o r y o f s ta n d in g w a v e s o f fin ite a m p litu d e on th e
su rfa c e o f a h e a v y fluid (in R u ss ia n ). Dokl. A ka d . N a u k. S S S R 58, 551—553.
S to k es, G . G . 1880 O n th e th e o r y o f o sc illa to ry w av es. A p p e n d ix В : C o n sid e ra tio n s re la tiv e
to t h e g re a te s t h e ig h t o f o sc illa to ry ir r o ta tio n a l w a v e s w h ic h c a n h e p ro p a g a te d w ith ­
o u t c h an g e o f form . M ath, and P hys. P ap. I , 2 2 5 -2 2 8 . C a m b rid g e U n iv e rs ity P ress.
T a d jb a k h s h , I . & K e lle r, J . B . 1960 S ta n d in g su rfa ce w a v e s o f fin ite a m p litu d e . J . F luid
Mech. 8 , 442-451.
T a y lo r, G . I . 1953 A n e x p e rim e n ta l s tu d y o f s ta n d in g w av es. Proc. R .S o c. Lond. A 2 1 8 ,4 4 —59.
W ilto n , J . R . 1913 O n th e h ig h e s t w a v e s in d e e p w a te r. P h il. M ag. ( 6) 26, 1053-1058.
Y a m a d a , H . 1957 H ig h e s t w a v es o f p e r m a n e n t ty p e on th e su rfa ce o f deep w a te r. Rep. Res.
In st. appl. Mech. K yu sh u U niv. 5, 37—52.
 1139

Ртос. R . Soc. L and. A . 337, 1—13 (1914)

P rin ted in Great B rita in

On the mass, momentum, energy and circulation

of a solitary wave
B y M. S. L okgtjet - H i g g i n s , F.R.S.
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics ,
Silver Street, Cambridge
and
Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Surrey

(Received 13 August 1973 )

Some new relations are given between the kinetio and potential energies of a solitary wave.
In particular, the Lagrangian is expressed as an integral involving the total energy. A lter­
native proofe are also given o f two other exact relations satisfied by the profile of the 'wave.
These relations are used to derive some very simple b u t olose approxim ations to the form
of the wave of maximum amplitude.

1. I n t b o d u c t i o n
For many purposes, particularly for calculations of the dynamics of waves breaking
in shallow water (Longuet-Higgins & Turner 1974), it is desirable to know n o to n ly
the profile of a solitary wave, and how this depends on the wave amplitude, but also
certain integral properties o f the motion such as the total energy, mass and momen­
tum . In particular we are interested in the wave of maximum amplitude, which as
shown b y Stokes (1880) develops a sharp comer at the wave crest, with an interior
angle of 120°.
Despite recent calculations b y Lenau (1966), B yatt-Sm ith (1970), Strelkoff (1971),
Fenton (1972) and others, there are still some discrepancies in the determination
o f the w ave profile, especially for high waves, nor have an y reliable limits been set
to the accuracy of the various determinations.
Special interest therefore attaches to the existence of certain exact relations
satisfied b y the solitary wave, some of which have been known previously, others
being given in the present paper. I t will be shown how these relations can be used
to check the accuracy o f previous calculations and to provide a simple approxima­
tion with a high degree o f accuracy.
Consider a solitary wave, of arbitrary amplitude a, propagated with velocity с
in water of undisturbed depth h, as in figure 1. We may define the Froude number:

JF = c/V W ,
where g denotes the acceleration due to gravity. Taking axes as in figure 1 , with
the origin in the mean level and the E-axis horizontal, let и and v denote the horizontal
and vertical components of the particle velocity, and у = г/ denote the surface
elevation, tj is assumed to tend to zero a t infinity.

Z [ 1 1 Vo!. 337. A. (5 March 19 7 4 )

1140

M. S. L onguet-ffiggins

F ig u r e 1. N o ta tio n an d coordinates for th e so litary "wave.

We may define then the excess mass of the wave

M = J rj dz,
the total momentum (or impulse)
I = f P itdyda;,
J —ooJ —h
the kinetic energy
T=J J £(u24- d 2) dy dxl

and the potential energy

V=
= | i ? 7js dx.

W e also define the total circulation

C = J % - d s = [0 ]«„,

where ф is the velocity potential (the motion being assumed irrotational) and
и = (n, ®), a function of (ж— ct). The integral is taken along any streamline. A lthough
и = V<f> vanishes at infinity, nevertheless sinoe the particle motion in a solitary
w ave is always in the direction of wave propagation, the circulation С is generally
positive, In a periodic wave of finite length one can o f course choose a frame of
reference in which 0 vanishes, b u t for a w ave o f infinite length this is no longer
possible.
Between the above quantities there are the following known relations

I = cM, (A)
2 T — c { l—hC), (E)
and 3V = (c*-gh)M . (C)

Equation (A) has been pointed out b y Starr (1947). (B) was proved b y M c C o w a n
{1891), and (C) was first prove b y Starr (1947). For convenience we give short b u t
direct proofs o f these results in the Appendix.
 1141

M a ss, m o m en tu m , energy a n d circulation of a solitary wave 3

To these we shall add in the present paper the new relation

d f f l = r * dI7. A»

the increment being with respect to the parameter F or the proportional wave
amplitude a/h. From (D) a number of other relations can be deduced (see § 3), in
particular an expression for the Lagrangian (T — V).
In § 2 we derive some other relations between ф and tj, and in particular an identity
involving ij alone, namely

J ” [(fc+ 7 )( l- 2 7 ? /№ )* ( l+ V 2)*-A ]d* = 0 (E)

which was pointed out to the author by Dr Byatt-Smith. We shall here give a shorter
proof.
In § 6 we shall discuss some previous calculations of the solitary wave, and in § 6
we shall show how the above relations can be used to deduce a very simple but close
approxim ation to the profile of the solitary wave of maximum amplitude.

2. E x p re s s io n s f o r th e k in e tic e n e rg y

We note first th a t equation (B) enables us to write a simple expression for the
kinetic energy in terms of the velocity potential ф. For we have

where {ф)п denotes the value of ф at the free surface. So on integrating with respect
to x,
hO = I +- J W d-V-

From equation (B) we have then

2T = —с J ^ s d j / , (2.1)

or on integration by parts
2Т = с ^ й ф . (2 .2 )

To express the kinetic energy T entirely in terms of the surface elevation 7], let
Ф = ф —сх
denote the velocity potential of the fluid motion as seen by an observer travelling
with the phase velocity c, and let q (> 0 ) denote the speed at the free surface. We
have then
йф = d<P-f с Ax = —g d s + cda:.
Also d s = (1 + i ? ' a)J das
1142

4 M. S. L onguet-H iggins
and by Bernoulli’s equation for the steady motion
qi = ca - 2 gi) = F*gh( i - 2 rjlhF2).
Choosing for convenience units in which g = h = 1 we have
d ф = J [ 1 - (1 - 2t)IF2)i (I +ii'*)i] da;.
So from th e definition of С in § 1 we have

0 = J p J ” [ i - ( t - 2 r i l F * ) i ( t + r ) '2)i]<h; (2.3)
and from (B)
T = P ' 2 j °0 [ 7 i - l + ( l - 2 r i l F * ) i ( l + i i ' * ) i ] d x . (2.4)

A lternatively we have from equation (2.2)

T = i / [ l - ( l - 2 # 2) J ( l + 7 ' 2)l]dj;, (2.5)

which, besides serving as a convenient check, has some advantages over equation
(2.4). For, the integrand is im mediately seen to be 0{rf) for small rj and so tends
to zero more rapidly as |ж| -* со. We note also th a t for small values of T) equation (2.5)
gives
T « P 1 2 r j [ l - { t - 4 i l F * ) ] d x = V,

showing th a t for solitary waves of smaU amplitude the kinetic and potential
energies are nearly equal (cf. McCowan 1 8 9 1 ).
Comparing equations (2.4) and (2.6) we have the identity

J * [(1+1/)(1- 21;/J»)* (1+ - 1]dx = 0. (E)

This relation, as p o in te d o u tb y j. G. B. Byatt-Sm ith (personalcommunication), can

be derived from his integral equation for the solitary wave (B yatt-Sm ith 197 °)-
We give here a more direct proof. Let Ф and 4* denote velocity-potential and stream
function in the steady motion. Then since (x + iy) is an analytic function of (Ф + i^ ) .
we have

so on integrating between the distant limits x = + X we obtain

J"(A + i/)dtf> = 2 J f J d ¥ f = —2 X c h = — c h ^ d z

from which (E) follow s a t once.

 1143

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave 5

3. A PARAM ETRIC RELATION BETW EEN T AND V
To establish the relation (D) we shall use a variational argument similar to th at
of Benjamin ( 1973 ), though with some essential differences. Let partial differentia­
tion be denoted by suffixes. Then the motion being progressive, the kinematical
and dynamical conditions a t the free surface can be written

\ ФхЧх'Фу = <Яl x < (3-1)

ШФ1 + Ф1)+'Ц = йФ*- (3-2)
The total energy E — T + V may be written

■®=f P Ш 1 + Ф1)&уйх+ Г i y 2dx.

J —co J —ft J —m

Now let 50 and Srj denote arbitrary small variations of the velocity potential and
surface elevation, such th a t 8 фх and St/ (but not necessarily 80) vanish as k| -> 00 .
Then applying Green’s theorem we have

5Я = | J V^Ф х 5фх +Фу5Фу)йУ&е+ j _Ш Ф 1 + Ф1) + Ч]ЬГ

Ч&1

= J (60)B^ d s + j с(фх)в Srjdx

by equation (2.3). B ut from (3.1) we have at the free surface

Д<b , , . „ da: da;

a;.
Therefore
БЯ = с | " [(фх)й5ч-(Ьф)ет,х]дх. (3.3)
On the other hand, since
I = j" fV rd j/d z
J -<= Jo
we have
SI = f p S ^ d i/c b -f- Г (^ Je S i/d x . (3 .4 )
J -to J Q J —eo
Also since
dу = J ’ s ^ d y + i^ s ^ ),,

we have, after integration with respect to x,

Ъ,ЪС = Г f S&.dj/da:-!-f Ух[&ф)аda;. (3.5)

J-cdJo J -<*
From (3 . 3 ), (3.4) and (3.6) there follows the general relation

5JS = c(5l-h$C). (3.6)

 1144

6 M. S. L onguet-ffiggins
This is a generalization o f the result due to Benjam in (1973), who considered
on ly the case S О = O.-f E qu ation (3 .6 ) is true for arbitrary (smooth) variations Ъф,
6 7j subject only to the conditions th at 8фх and 817 vanish at 00.
Suppose now th a t the variations §ф, Srj are consistent with the ‘ gro w th ’ o f the
solitary w ave so as to slightly change its amplitude a (or Fronde number F) while
keeping the mean depth h constant. Then from (3 .6 ) and equation (B) it follows th at
dE = cd(2T/c). (3.7)
T h is interesting relation m a y be put in a number of different forms. W riting
E = T + V we find
dT_2T _ dV
dc с dc ‘

H<ra“ (D>

SO
T = c\ f ? = y - c2J F d ( ^ ) - m

A lternatively, if we introduce the Lagrangian

L = T-V,

we m a y write ~ = — (D")
J dc с

<m
or in integral form

„J*d(i). <D")
I t is worth noting th at if in place of V one introduces the total potential energy

~ j %{h + i])2Ax = V + ghM + gh?X

and considers the variation o f (T + F *), admitting variations dA in the depth A,

then one arrives at the more general result that

d( T - V ) - 2T(dcjc) + [(ca - g h ) M -2 T \ dA/A = 0.

W hen dA = 0 then this reduces to equation (D). B u t when F is kept constant and
A is varied, then since T ос A8, V oc As and с ос hi it follows that

2 ( T - V ) - T + [{c * -g h )M -2 T ] = 0,

which is equivalent to relation (C) of § I.

t I t a p p e a rs from e q u a tio n (2.6) o f B e n ja m in (1973 ) t h a t he also assu m ed i t p ossible to

ta k e 0 = 0 .

1
 1145

M a ss, m o m en tu m , energy a n d circulation o f a solitary wave 7

4. T h e sm a ll -a m p l it u d e a p p r o x im a t io n

Writing g — h = 1 and introducing the parameter

a.= F2- 1 [F = c) (4.1)

we have the well known approximate expressions for waves of small amplitude:

ijssa s e c h *j3(x-ct), j
ф + vjr я (a//S) tanh y?(a: + iy — ct),J

where A « W 3ai (4-3)

(Bousainesq 1871; Rayleigh 1876; Lamb 1932). From these it is easy to find that

M x I и С и j
(4.4)
7 « T « — а»
3,/3 ’
I
I
and so from equation (D)

<4 -5 >

Further terms in these expansions will be given in a subsequent paper by the present
author and Dr Fenton (in preparation).

5. T h e fo rm o f t h e s o l it a r y w a v e of m a x im u m a m p l it u d e

In table 1 are listed a number of calculations th at have been made of the height
and form of a solitary wave of maximum amplitude. The accuracy of these calcula­
tions has not been easy to assess. Yam ada (1957) satisfied the firee surface condition
numerically, but at only 13 points on his profile. B yatt-Sm ith (1970) and Fenton
(1972) both calculated profile of waves l&ss than the maximum amplitude and extra­
polated the results to the highest wave. B u t because the behaviour of the wave

T able 1. E st im a t e s o f t h e s p e e d a n d h e ig h t o f a so l it a r y

w a v e o f m a x im u m a m p l it u d e

a u th o r F* ajh
M eCow an ( 1894 ) 1.66 0.78
Y a m a d a ( 1957 ) 1.666 0.828
L en au ( ig 66 ) 1.664 0.827
B y a tt-S m ith ( 1970 ) 1.72 0.86
Strelkoff ( 19 7 1 ) 1.70 0.85
F e n to n ( 1972 ) 1.70 0.86

height as a function o f wave velocity is unknown near the maximum amplitude,

their extrapolation is necessarily in some doubt. Lenau (1966) and Strelkoff (197*)
both solved integral equations for the wave profile of maximum amplitude. This
1146

8 M. S. L onguet-ffiggins
m ethod also involves some uncertainty, in th a t the appropriate expansion of the
profile in th e neighbourhood of the crest is still no t known (see G rant 1 9 7 3 ).
Strelkoff did not publish the details of his profile b u t only quoted his result:
a/h ж 0 .8 6 .

6. A S IM P L E A P P R O X I M A T I O N TO T H E W AVE OP M A X IM U M A M P L I T U D E
F o r some purposes it is convenient to have a simple b u t accurate approxim ation
to a function which otherwise requires numerical tabulation. We shall now show
how th e energy relations obtained earlier can be used to obtain such an approxim a­
tion to th e profile of th e solitary wave.
Stokes (1 8 8 0 ) showed th a t a t a sharp wave crest the angle a t the corner is 120°, so
th a t th e surface gradient is l /^З. Since also a particle a t the surface m ust come to
re st a t th e com er (in th e fram e of reference moving with the wave) we have the
two necessary relations
V(0) = ?'( + 0 ) ---- 1/V3. (6.1)
W e know also (see Lam b 1 9 3 2 , § 252) th a t in the outer fringes of the wave th e profile
behaves asym ptotically like e_>|x|, where
tan nl/i = F 2 ( 6 .2 )
exactly. Suppose then th a t we approxim ated the profile by a simple exponential
i) = A e- '***1, (6.3)
we should obtain
tan ji = 2Д/3 = 1.156, = 1.347, (6.4)
a som ewhat low value. This is because the single term (6.3) can satisfy, in effect,
only two conditions, one a t the crest and one a t infinity.
Suppose, however, th a t we introduce a second term:
7] = J4 e - ^ l + 5 e - W . ( 6 .6 )

This is still consistent with (6.2) and in addition we can now satisfy the integral
condition

j: [%7)2 - ( F i - l ) 7 ) ] a x = 0 .

Substituting in equations (6.1), (6.2) and (6 .6 ) we have

(6.6)

A + B = \ F 2 = tan /t/ 2 /i,

A + 2B = 1/^3/*, j
Щ А г + 1АВ + \ В 2) = (2 A + B) (^ 2 -1 ).1
These equations are easily Bolved to give
A = 1.116, В = -0.284, fi — 1.0S2, F 2 = 1.665. (6.7)
The value of J 4 is now close to th a t found by earlier authors (see table 1 ).
By introducing a further term :
t) = A e - ^ l + В e - W + С e - 3/ ^ 1 ( 6 -8 )
 ! 147

M a ss, m o m en tum , energy and circulation o f a solitary wave 9

we can satisfy also the integral condition

f " [ ( H - i ? ) ( l - 2 ^ 2) * ( l + 7 '2) * - l ] < b = 0- (6.9)

J -a>
In this way we obtain
A = 1.3117, В = -0.6522, О = 0.1795,|
fi = 1.0577, ¥ г = 1.6780, a/h = 0.8390./ ' ^

T a b l e 2. T h e p r o f i l e o f t h e w a v e o f m a x im u m a m p l i t u d e , a s g i v e n b y e q u a ­
tio n s ( 6 .8 ) AND (6.12), COMPARED W ITH THAT GIV EN BY YAM ADA ( 1957 )
Y a m a d a ( 1957 ) e q u a tio n (6 . 8) e q u a tio n (6.12)

z/A Vlh Ф difference Ф difference

0.0000 0.8278 0.8390 0.0112 0.8296 0.0019
0.1631 0.7363 0.7490 0.0127 0.7380 0.0017
0.3462 0.6414 0.6573 0.0159 0.6426 0.0012
0.4968 0.5698 0.5847 0.0149 0.5707 0.0009
0,6370 0.5086 0.5230 0.0144 0.5093 0,0007
0.7761 0.4533 0.4666 0.0133 0.4540 0.0007
0.9172 0.4014 0.4133 0.0199 0,4023 0.0009
1.0690 0.3514 0.3615 0.0101 0.3627 0.0013
1.2381 0.3016 0.3101 0.0085 0.3037 0.0021
1.4368 0.2508 0.2676 0.0068 0.2540 0.0032
1.6880 0.1969 0.2025 0.0066 0.2017 0.0048
2.0505 0.1369 0.1412 0.0045 0.1436 0.0069
2.7971 0.0596 0.0663 0.0067 0.0699 0.0103
CO 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000

A comparison of the profile (6 . 8 ) with Yamada's profile is given in table 2 , showing

th a t the differences are only of order 0.01. The corresponding values of the mass
and of the kinetic and potential energies are
M = 1.977A®, V = 0.447gA8, T = 0.547gh3. (6 . 11 )
If, on the other hand, we adopt the simpler form
v = A e-W + B e-M (v > /*). (6 .1Я)
(a suggestion th a t I owe to Dr Packham) and then choose A , B, fi, v so as to satisfy
the same four conditions, we obtain
A = 1.5389, В = -0.7093,1
ц = 1.0495, v = 1.4630, 6.13)
F 1 = 1.6592, a/A = 0.8296. )
From table 2 it will be seen th a t the agreement with Yamada's profile ia now even
closer, the differences over most of the range being only of order 0.002. Graphically
(figure 2) the profile (6.12) is almost indistinguishable from th a t of Yamada or
Lenau. Corresponding to (6 . 12 ) we find
M = 1. 963Aa, V = 0 . 4 3 lgrA3, T - 0 . 5 2 7 ffA3. ( 6. 14)
 1148

N
FiamtE 2. The profile of the wave of maximum amplitude as given by equation (6.12) (solid line), compared with th e
num erical calculations of Yamada ( 1957 ) (circles) and Lenau ( 1966 ) (crosses).
 1149

M a ss, m o m en tum , energy and circulation o f a solitary wave 11

7. C o n c l u s io n

W e have derived some exact integral relations for the solitary w ave and used these
to obtain simple approximations for the wave of maximum amplitude. These agree
well with the more lengthy calculations of Yam ada and Lenau. In fact both Y am ada’a
and Lenau’s profiles lie very slightly below our approximations, but there is some
evidence from the work of Strelkoff (1971), Eenton (1972) and B yatt-Sm ith (1970)
th at the maximum surface elevation may indeed slightly exceed the values obtained
b y Y am ada and Lenau. There is clearly still a need for a definitive calculation of the
profile of the solitary wave of maximum amplitude.
In a further paper we shall pay attention to improving the calculation of waves
o f less than the maximum amplitude. Here the parametric relations derived in § 3
m ay he expected to be particularly useful.

A p p e n d ix . P r o o f of t h e r e l a t io n s ( A ) , (B) a n d (C)

To prove (A), consider the motion relative to axes moving with the ph&se-
velocity c. The particle velocity is then (u — a, v) and b y continuity of mass

J-h (u —c)Ay
Г 1
= constant =

ГЧ
—ch

so I и д у = \ cdy
J -h Jo
which is equivalent to (A).
Following McCowan (1891), let Ф and W denote the velocity potential and stream-
function in the relative motion, so th a t
Ф = ф -с х , Ф —ф -с у

and ^ -^ = J7 * + 7 *
3 (ж, у)

where (V, V) denotes (u —c, v). Then on integrating over the Tegion of flow contained
between the two distant limits x — + X , say, we have

2T = I I [(tf + c ^ + F ^ d z d y

U*+ F2)d z d y + 2 c JJ"( ?7 + c) dj/dz + c2 J J Aydx

d0dy/+2cj (- ftc)ds + c2J (A+ i;)da:

= - сА[Ф]?x - 4c2AX + c \ M + 2 fcX)
= —cA[^]?_x; + c 2Af.
Letting X со and using equation (A) we see th a t (B) follows immediately.
1150

12 M. S. Longuet-Higgins
To prove (C) let p denote the pressure and write Bernoulli's equation (multiplied
by two) in th e form
[р + ( и - с ) г~\+ ( д у - с 2) + ул + (р+ду) = 0 .
Now from the equation of vertical momentum we have

(у+л) Iш + 4 ^ +Н =0,
where DfDt denotes differentiation following the motion. Adding, we get
D 3
[р + (м -с )2+ (?у-с*)1 + ^ [ ( у + Л)р] + — [(y+ h)(p + gy)] = 0. (A l)

B u t by using the constancy of momentum flu i in the moving frame of reference,

we have

f [? + («•—c)2 + ( ^ —c2) ] d j /= f [ —(7y + c4] d y + Г [gy —c*)dy

J “A J -ft J -л

= J o ^ y - c 2) dy.

So on integrating over the whole wave,

Г"° ri
I I [?> + ( i i - c )2 + {gfy-c2)]dj/da; = V - c zM.
J —COJ —Д
Also we have, with the same limits of integration

JJ"jjj[(3/+A)»]dyd* - ^j"J(j/ +fe)«dj/da; = 0

and J J ^ f ( » + i )(P+fl»)]dy(i* = j(ii+ h )g Vd x = 2V+ ghM .

So from equation (A 1) we have altogether

(V -& M ) + (2V + gkM) = 0 ,

from which (C) follows immediately. I t will be noted th at this proof does not ex­
plicitly introduce the kinetic energies of the horizontal and vertical motion, as is
done by Starr (1947 ) ar*d by Keady & Pritchard ( 1973 ).

B eeeb ettc es
B en jam in , Т . B . 1973 L eotures o n n o n lin e a r w ave m otion. F luid Mech. Res. In st., U niv.
Еазех, re p o rt no. 44.
Bouaainesq, J . 3871 T h 6orie d e ^’intum escence liquid© арреЫ е onde so litaire ou d e tra n s la tio n
ее p ro p a g ea n t dans u n can al rectangulaixe.
B y a tt-S m ith , J . G. B. 1970 A n e x a c t in te g ral e q u a tio n for ste a d y su rface w aves. Proc. R . Soc.
Lond A 315, 405-418.
F en to n , J . 1972 A n in th -o rd e r so lu tio n fo r th e so lita ry w ave. J . F luid Meoh. 53, 267—271.
 1151

M a ss, m o m en tum , energy and circulation o f a solitary wave 13

Grant,, M. A . 1973 T h e sin g u larity a t th e c rest o f a finite a m p litu d e progressive Stokes
w ave. J . F luid Mech. 59, 267-262.
K e a d y , G. * P ritc h a rd , W . G. 1973 B ounds for surface so lita ry w aves. Fluid Meek. Res.
Inst., Univ. Essex, re p o rt no. 40.
L am b , H . 1932 Hydrodynamics, 6th ed., §252. C am bridge U n iv e rsity Press.
L e n a u , C. W . 1966 T he so lita ry w ave o f m ax im u m a m p litu d e . J . F luid Mech. 26, 306—320.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. & T u rn er, S. J . 1974 A n ‘e n train in g p lu m e ' m odel of a spilling
b re a k e r. J . F luid Mech. (in pross).
M eCowan, J . 1891 O n th e so lita ry w ave. Phil. Mag. (5) 32, 45-68.
M cC ow an, J . 1894 O n th e highest w ave o f p e rm a n e n t ty p e. P hil. Mag. (5) 38, 351-368.
R a y le ig h , L o rd 1876 O n w aves. P hil. Mag. (5) 1, 257—279.
Starr, V . T. 1947 M omentum and energy integrals for gravity waves of finite height. J . mar.
Res. 6 , 175-193.
S tokes, G. G. 1880 O n th e th e o ry of o scillatory w aves. Math. Phya. Pap. 1, 197-229, 314.
C am bridge U n iv e rsity Press.
S trelkoff, T . 1971 A n e x a c t num erical solution of th e so lita ry w ave. P t o c . 2nd In t. Conf.
N um . Methods F luid Dyn. Springer.
Y a m a d a , H . 1957 O n th e highest so lita ry w ave. Rep. Res. Inst. appl. Mech. K yushu Univ.
5, 53-67.
1152

Proc. R. Soc. Lvnd. A. 340, 471-493 (1974)

Printed tn Great Britain

On the mass, momentum, energy and circulation

of a solitary wave. l i t

By M. S. L onguet-H iggins, F.R.S.

Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University
of Cambridge, and Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Wormley, Surrey
and J. D. F en to n
Department of Civil Engineering, Imperial College of Science
and Technology, London, £.PP.7

(Received 15 February 1974)

By accurate calculation it is found th a t the speed F of a solitary wave,

as well as its mass, momentum and energy, attains a maximum value
corresponding to a wave of less than the maximum amplitude. Hence
for a given wave speed F there can exist, when F is near its maximum,
two quite distinct solitary waves.
The calculation is made possible, first, by the proof in an earlier paper
(I )| of some exact relations between the momentum and potential energy,
which enable the coefficients in certain series to be cheeked and extended
to a high order; secondly, by the introduction of a new param eter ш
(related to the particle velocity at the wave crest) whose range is exactly
know n; and thirdly by the discovery th at the series for the mass M and
potential energy V in powers of u> can be accurately summed by P ad 6
approximants. Prom these, the values of F and of the wave height e are
determined accurately through the exact relations 3F = (F2— t) M and
2c = (<и+ р т - 1 ).
The maximum wave height, as determined in this way, is етлх = 0.827,
in good agreement with the values found by Yamada ( 1957 ) and Lenau
( 1966 ), using completely different methods. The speed of the limiting
wave is J 1— 1.286. The maximum wave speed, however, is FmM = 1.294,
which corresponds to e = 0.790.
The relation between e and F is compared to the laboratory observations
made by Daily & Stephan (1952 ), with reasonable agreement. An im portant
application of our results is to the understanding of how waves break in
shallow water. The discovery th at the highest solitary wave is not the
most energetic helps to explain the qualitative difference between plunging
and spilling breakers, and to account for the marked intermittency which
is characteristic of spilling breakers.

t The first part appeared in Proc. It. Soc. Land. A 337, 1.

[ 471 ]
 1153

472 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

1. I n t b o d u c t io n

In this paper we continue and extend the study of solitary waves on water of
uniform depth which was begun in an earlier paper (Longuet-Higgins 1974, to
be referred to as paper (I)). In that paper some new relations were proved connecting
the mass, momentum and energy of a solitary wave, and these were used to derive
a simple but close approximation to the form of the solitary wave of maximum
amplitude. In the present paper we turn our attention to the calculation of waves
having less than the maximum amplitude.
Since the first approximate theories given b y Boussinesq (1871) and Rayleigh
(1876), which were valid strictly for waves of small amplitude, higher approxima­
tions have been suggested b y McCowan (1891), Weinstein (1926), Long (1956),
Laitone (i960), Grimshaw (1971) and Fenton (1972). All these rely on expansions
in powers of a small parameter, essentially the wave height. In particular Fenton
(1972) has carried such an expansion numerically to the ninth order, obtaining
accurate results (enhanced b y the use of Shanks transforms) up to amplitudes e
within about 10 % of the maximum.
Although further progress along these lines is possible (and will be described)
one would nevertheless hardly expect that a power series in e would give accurate
results right up to the maximum wave amplitude. A t this value of e, the surface
develops a sharp crest with an angle of 120°, which must correspond to a singularity
on or outside the radius of convergence.
Other authors, including Nekrasov (1921), Milne-Thomson (1964, 1968), Lenau
(1966), B yatt-Sm ith (1970) and Strelkoff (1971), have derived integral equations
for the wave profile. Numerical solutions for waves of less than the maximum
amplitude, have been given b y Schwitters (1966), Thomas (1967) and B yatt-Sm ith
(1970). Here again, however, difficulties are encountered when the wave amplitude
approaches its maximum value. These difficulties arise from the large curvatures
near the crest, and our present ignorance as to the analytical structure of the flow
in the neighbourhood of the crest (see Grant 1973).
In the present paper we attack the problem again b y means of series expansions,
b u t with the addition of some new weapons to our armoury. First, in §§ 2- 4 , we
extend the series approximations of Fenton (1972) as far as the practical limit of
computation, which, with the available word-lengths, should be about the fifteenth
power o f e. Beyond the ninth approximation the coefficients are found to become
irregular, but we are able to show, b y means of the identities derived in (I), that
the irregularities are not due to rounding errors. In fact the identities are checked
to a high degree o f accuracy, indicating that the irregular behaviour of the co­
efficients is indeed significant (see § 3 ).
F 2~ 1,
W e next show (in § 4 ) that b y a change of independent variablefrom e to у -
where F is the Froude number, the irregularities in the series for the momentum
and energy are removed. This appears to be due to the singular behaviour of e
as a function of у in the neighbourhood of e = emax- Physically, there is a sharp
1154

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 473

increase in the wave-height as the maximum amplitude is approached. However,

no such sudden increase is found in the total mass M , so th a t the momentum and
the energies are all smooth functions of y.
W ith this change of variable the new coefficients behave sufficiently regularly
for the maximum value of у to be estimated from aD om b-Sykes plot (see figure 1).
The extended series can then be summed, with the help of Shanks transforms or
Pade approximants, up to F 2 equal to about 1.60, but not beyond (see figures 2
and 3).
The next step is to introduce a third variable <j, related to the particle speed a t
the wave crest. Unlike either of the two variables e and y, the range of variation of o)
is precisely known. W hen expressed in powers of <t), the series for M , T and V appear
initially less regular than for the series in powers of у . Nevertheless the summation by
P ad 6 approximants leads to rapidly converging results. Moreover from M and V
it is possible to calculate F 2 with a comparable degree of accuracy, and hence also
the wave height e (see figure 4).
The maximum wave height, as determined in this way, is in remarkably good
agreement with the values found by Yamada (1957) and Lenau (1966) by com­
pletely different and independent methods.
The calculations also yield the unexpected result th a t the wave speed F attains
a maximum value a t a certain wave amplitude less than the maximum. Hence, there
is a certain range of speeds near the maximum, where two quite distinct solitary
waves can exist with the same wave speed.
Similar results are found also for the total mass M and for the kinetic and potential
energies.
These results ате discussed in § 7. To many readers they will appear less ex tra­
ordinary when it is recalled th a t Fenton (1972) already had found indications of
a maximum in the value of the total ‘d rift’ S (which is numerically equal to the
mass M ), and th a t Schwartz (1 974) has found a comparable result for periodic waves
in water of uniform depth, namely th at the Stokes parameter (roughly the am plitude
of the first harmonic) is not a monotonically increasing function of the wave height,
but also attains a maximum for waves of less than the maximum height.
In § 6 we compare our theoretical relation between e and F with the laboratory
observations by Daily & Stephan (1952). Over the range of e in which the observa­
tions were made there is satisfactory agreement. An im portant application of our
results is to the breaking of waves in shallow water. The fact th at the highest solitary
wave ifi not also the most energetic helps to explain the qualitative difference
between plunging and spilling breakers, and to account for the marked inter -
mittency which has been observed in spilling breakers (Longuet-Higgins & Turner
1974)-
 1155

474 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

2. T h e sm a l l -a m p l it u d e a p p r o x im a t io n

Consider a solitary wave of arbitrary amplitude o, travelling with velocity с in

water of undisturbed depth h (see figure 1 of (I)). The form of the wave is known to
depend on a single parameter, which may be taken to be either the relative wave
amplitude e = ajh or the Froude number F = c/^(gh), where g denotes the accelera­
tion of gravity. Throughout this paper we shall choose units of length and time so
^ at g= h= 1, e = a, F = c. (2.1)

L et rectangular coordinates be chosen in a frame of reference travelling with

the waves, so th a t the motion is independent of the time. W ith the origin beneath
the wave crest at the level of the undisturbed fluid, let the x axis be in the direction
of wave propagation and the у axis vertically upwards.
Fenton ( 1 972 ) has given a solution for the surface elevation 7/ in the form of
a series:
V(x ) = 2 2 bija.2isechtHax} (2.2)

in which the coefficients bi} are constants and a is a parameter tending to zero as
the wave amplitude tends to zero. In fact setting x = 0 we have

e. = 97(0 ) = 2 2 bl}. (2.3)

i-i i=i
The Froude number F is expressible in terms of a by Stokes’s relation
tan 2 a
Fz=■ (2.4)
2a
By inverting the series (2.3), both a, t) and F 2 may be expressed as power series
in 6 . In this way we find, for instance, th at

F* = S A n6">
n =0 (2.5)

« = ^2 Bne«+i,
* n-Q

where the leading coefficients A 0 and B a are equal to unity. Also the total mass M
and the total kinetic and potential energies T and V (see (I)) are given by

ЛГ-- To 2 0 CnP * i,
(2 .6 )
Г = oyO
A n„2 £ nen+i.
0

V = Д 2 E nen+i>
■
aVJ n- 0 »
where again the leading coefficients in each series are equal to 1 .
1156

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 475

Fenton ( 1972 ) carried the expansions of a, F 2 and the mean drift 8 (-which is
equivalent to M) as far as the ninth order, i.e. to terms in eg. W ith the aid of Shanks
transforms, satisfactory convergence was obtained up to about e = 0.5 and perhaps
further. However, two puzzling features of the expansion were apparent. First in
the expression for the mean drift 8 (or mass M) the Shanks transforms did not
converge well. Secondly, the coefficients in the series for 8 and a in term s of e
began to show certain irregularities at the higher orders.

3. E x te n s io n a n d v e rific a tio n o f th e s e rie s

To obtain greater accuracy, and at the same time to reduce the possibility of
rounding errors, we first recalculated the coefficients for M , T , V and F 2 as far
as the fourteenth order, with the aid of the CDC 6600 at London University, where
a precision of 29 decimal places is readily available. The resulting values (verified
on the IBM 370 at Cambridge) are shown in table 1 .

T a b l e 1 . C o e ff ic ie n ts in t h e e x p a n s io n s o f F-, M , T and V ш p ow ers o f e

n f* M T V R,
0 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 3 x 1 0 -51 0
1 1.000000 .375000 .725000 .325000 - 8 x 10-** 0
2 -.0 5 0 0 0 0 -.2 8 0 3 1 2 - .4 4 9 0 6 2 - .3 4 1 9 2 0 3 x 1 0 - 2» 5 x 10-*7
3 - .042857 -.1 0 8 1 6 9 - .1 9 4 5 4 0 - .1 4 4 6 1 0 2 x 10-*“ - 1 x 1 0 - 20
4 - .0 3 4 2 8 6 - .0 6 3 0 8 8 - .1 1 3 8 1 6 - .0 9 0 0 4 3 - 3 x 1 0 “M —2 x 1 0 - “
5 - .0 3 1 5 1 9 - .0 5 3 0 7 8 - .1 0 0 7 6 7 - .0 7 6 7 7 5 4 x 1 0 -« 2 x 1 0 '21
6 - .0 2 9 2 7 8 - .0 4 2 0 6 3 - .0 7 9 8 9 2 - .0 6 1 9 8 6 3 x JO -20 — 2 x 1 0 - 21
7 - .0 2 6 8 4 5 - .0 3 9 9 2 4 - .0 7 8 8 4 7 - .0 6 2 0 9 7 2 x 1 0 -” —2 x 1 0 - ”
8 - .0 3 0 2 6 3 - .0 3 5 0 3 1 - .0 6 8 7 3 4 - .0 5 0 0 1 5 - 2 x 1 0 -1* —2 x 1 0 - ”
9 -.0 2 1 9 3 5 - .0 4 0 2 3 2 - .0 8 6 7 9 0 - .0 7 6 8 7 5 4 X 1 0 - 1* 2 x 1 0 -“
10 - .0 4 8 2 2 9 - .0 0 8 0 3 6 .007800 .044564 —8 x 1 0 - ” —3 x 1 0 - “
11 .061809 - .2 1 2 7 3 3 - .6 0 5 4 7 2 - .6 7 5 0 5 2 2 x 10-* 6 x 1 0 " 11
12 - .5 0 6 7 9 0 1.3 81975 4.1 5 5 4 4 4 4.66 7 9 5 3 - З х 10-* - lx lO -8
13 3.4 6 6 6 - 1 3 .4 4 1 9 - 4 0 .0 9 2 8 - 4 3 .6 9 5 8 4 x 10-* 3 x 1 0 -’
14 - 3 1 .6 4 148.52 443.41 47 6 .9 4 4 x lO - 3 - 3 x 1 0 -'

I t can be seen th a t up to the ninth order the values given by Fenton (1972) are
verified except for M , where there were errors in the fifth or sixth decimal places.
However, it will also be apparent th a t beyond the ninth order the coefficients,
though previously tending to diminish, now begin to increase rapidly and to
alternate in sign.
The first question to be asked is whether the higher coefficients are significant or
are merely the result of rounding errors. As a check we used two identities, the first,
3V ~ ( F 1- \ ) M , (3.1)
being due to Starr ( 1947 ). Both this and the second identity:

T - V = J F ( T / F 2) d F l ( 3 .2 )

30 V ol. 340. A.
 1157

476 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

are proved in paper I. Each side of these equations was expanded in powers of e and
the coefficients on the two sides were compared. The differences in the coefficients
are shown in the last two columns of table X, from which it can be seen th at the
identities are well verified. Hence it appears th at the coefficients are indeed sig­
nificant, to the degree of precision given.

4. C h a n g e of v a r ia b l e

W hat then is the reason for the irregular behaviour of the coefficients in table 1 ?
I t appeared to us possible th a t irregularities were due to the singular behaviour
of the param eter e at or near the value of F corresponding to the wave of maximum
amplitude. For the limiting wave itself is known to have a sharp-angled crest, with
an interior angle of 120° (Stokes 1880 ). Shortly before the maximum amplitude is
attained, there could be a large change in e corresponding to only a relatively small
increase in the speed of the wave. If this were so, it might be expected th a t expan­
sions of smoothly varying quantities in terms of a singular parameter e might well
behave in an irregular way.
To test this conjecture the series for M, T and V were reformulated in powers
of the new param eter
y = F 2- 1, (4.1)

which like e vanishes for waves of small amplitude. Thus we now have

e = £ an7 n+1,
n =0
(4.2)
a = y S bny n+i,
* n = 0

and M = -hГ s cny"+4,

т = A E dny ”+i (4.3)

F = r^-_ 2 eny ,7 1 + J
0 \''n -0 /
The resulting coefficients for e, M, T and V are shown in table 2. I t will be seen
th a t all the coefficients for M, T and V beyond n = 1 are now of the same sign,
and moreover vary smoothly with n. The coefficients for V are in fact identical
with those for M , in accordance with equation (3.1).
In figure 1 we have plotted the ratios cn/cn_j of the coefficients in the series (4.3)
for M . These are plotted against n~l , as in a Domb-Sykes plot. I t can be seen th at
the odd ratios now lie on a smooth curve, and the even ratios on another smooth
curve, both tending towards the same limit as n -> oo. As is well known, the limit
of cn/cn_j, if it exists, is equal to the reciprocal of the radius of convergence y 0 of
the series (4.3).
1158

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 477

Extrapolation to ljn — 0 by means of the rational function

Pp+PJn + PJn*
1 + Q iln + Q Jn2 (4 '4 >
fitted to the points n = 4, 6 , 8 , 10 and 12 leads to the value l/y 0 = 1.462, hence
F 2 = 1.684, while a similar extrapolation from the points n - 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13
leads to 1jy 0 = 1.562, hence F 2 = 1.640. In figure 1 the broken line is drawn to the

T a b l e 2. C o e f f i c i e n t s ш t h e e x p a n s i o n s o f e, M, T and V in p o w ers o f у
n M T V
0 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.00 0 0 0 0
1 .0 50000 .400000 .800000 .4 0 0 0 0 0
2 .047857 - .2 2 8 5 7 1 -.2 8 5 7 1 4 - .2 2 8 5 7 1
3 .0 45625 - .0 9 3 7 1 4 - .1 1 2 7 6 2 -.0 9 3 7 1 4
4 .0 4 9 6 5 3 - .0 6 6 5 4 3 - .0 7 1 4 6 1 - .066543
6 .056 0 3 0 - .0 6 5 2 9 8 - .0 7 2 1 3 1 - .0 65298
6 .0 6 4 5 6 8 - .0 6 5 8 7 3 - .0 6 9 5 6 8 - .0 6 5 8 7 3
7 .081683 - .0 7 4 0 0 1 - .0 7 8 9 2 4 - .0 7 4 0 0 1
8 .0 93366 - .0 8 4 5 4 8 - .0 8 8 4 5 1 - .0 8 4 5 4 8
9 .1 4 1 8 1 4 - .1 0 1 6 9 3 - .1 0 6 5 8 6 - .1 0 1 6 9 3
10 .0 86752 - .1 2 3 7 5 4 - .1 2 8 5 5 5 - .1 2 3 7 5 4
11 .641255 - .1 5 5 2 8 8 - .1 6 1 1 5 6 - .1 5 5 2 8 8
12 - 2 .9 5 1 0 1 - .1 9 6 2 6 3 - .202767 - .1 9 6 2 6 3
13 2 9.716 - .2 5 3 6 - .2 6 1 6 - .2 5 3 6
14 •317. - .3 4 - .3 5 - .3 4

F lo r a * 1. A Dom b-SykeB plot of the ratios c„/c„_, o f successive coefficients

in the series for the m ass M in powers o f y.

30-2
M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton
1160

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. 11 479

mean value 1/y 0 — 1.511, corresponding to F 2 — 1.662. However the difference

between the two extrapolations is a measure of the uncertainty of this estimate.
Figure 1 also gives some indication of the nature of the singularity on the circle
of convergence. For if near yc
M ~ i *0 + j q y - y 0|*’, (4.5)
where Ma, К and p are constants, then as n -*■oo
c,S _ ~ ! ( l _ £ ± i V (4.6)
c, -i 7o\ 71 J
Therefore
d ( c nlcv - i ) (4.7)

In figure 1, the gradient of the asymptote near 1/n = 0 is about 2.94, giving
•p + 1 = 1.95 and so <p = 0.95. This being close to unity suggests th a t there is at
most a weak singularity-possibly only logarithmic - at у = y 0.
A Domb-Sykes plot of the coefficients for V and T gives almost identical results
with those for M. By contrast, the ratios of the coefficients for e, as seen from the
second column of table 2, behave in a quite irregular manner, after about n = 9.
There is no well-determined radius of convergence, and it appears th a t the series in
powers of у is at best asymptotic.
When we attem pt to sum the series for M and e in powers of у we find (see figure 2 )
th a t for M the partial sums

£,- = 4 n-oE c„y"+l (j = 1 , 2 ,..., 14)

converge well up to about F 2 = 1.60, but not beyond. Some improvement can be
obtained with the use of Shanks ( 1955 ) transforms:

( '* S ^ + 8 ^ - 2 8 ,
as in Fenton ( 1972 ), and by Pad 6 approximants [N, N] (see Baker 1965 ) up to
about F 2 = 1.63, but not beyond. The series for V and T behave in a similar fashion.
As for e (see figure 3) the Shanks transforms e(jS12) and e(S13) appear at first to
give results accurate up to F 2 = 1.70 but the P ad 6 approximants [iV, N] do not
agree with the Shanks transforms. In fact the P ad 6 approximants clearly diverge
when F 2 > 1.68.
The reasons for this behaviour will shortly become clear.

F igure 2. Convergence of th e pow er series (4.3) for M in pow ers o f y, in th e range

1.6 < F* < 1.76.
T he S -indicate p a rtia l sum s to j term s, <?(£,) in d ic a te th e S hanlts tran sfo rm s a n d [2/, N~]
th e P a d 6 ap p ro x im an ts. T h e open circles represent values c alcu la te d from th e series for
M a n d Р г in pow ers o f w (see § 6).
 1161

480 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

вое opposite.
3. For legend
F ioube
1162

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 481

5. E x p a n s i o n s in p o w ess o f oj

A difficulty in using either у or e as expansion param eters is th a t the precise

range of these variables is not yet well determined (see I). On the other hand, one
quantity whose range is precisely known is U, the value of the velocity a t the wave
crest (in the frame of reference moving with the wave speed). In the wave of
limiting height U vanishes, and for waves of low amplitude V tends to *J(gh).
Thus the new parameter
w = 1 - V ilgh (5 .1 )

varies between 0 and 1 as the wave amplitude varies from 0 to its (unknown)
limiting value emax.
Application of Bernoulli’s theorem shows at once th a t

ш = l-(_ F * -2 £ ). (5.2)
Thus we have simply
йj = 2e —y (6.3)

and from (5.2) and (2.5), since A 0 = 1, we have

со — £— £ -Anen- (5-4)
n-2
Inverting this series we obtain
e = Ш+ £ Gn(on (5.5)
n= 2

say. By substitution in equations (2.5) and (2.6) we can now obtain also F 2, M ,
T and V in powers of ы.
The coefficients of the new series are shown in table 3. At first sight they appear
similar to those in table 1 , th at is to say they tend to diminish in magnitude up to
about n = 9, and then to increase sharply and oscillate in sign. Nevertheless we
find th at by this Bimple change of variable the convergence is now radically improved.
Thus, the [N ,N ] Pad 6 approximants for M, V and T are found to converge re ­
markably rapidly, as can be seen from table 4. Even when ш = 1 , one can rely on
at least three significant figures and, generally, more. The approximants for e are
not so regular. However, from the values of M and V we can calculate у using
the relation
y = S V/M (5 .6 )

Fjctrtue 3. Convergence of th e pow er series (4.2) for e in pow ers of y, in th e range

1.5 < F l < 1.75.
The S) in d icate p a rtia l su m s to j term s, e[Sj) in d ic a te th e S hanks tran sfo rm s a n d [N,N]
th e P a d 6 a p p ro x im an ts. T he open circles rep resen t values c alcu la te d from th e aeries
for M a n d F 2 in pow ers of ы (see § o).
 1163

482 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

derived from equation (3.1), and then e from

e = %(У+ Ш) (5.7)
by (5.3).
As a check we can calculate the values of L — T —V and it is found th at the
relation
F 2dL — T d F 2 (5.8)
derived from equation (3.2), is indeed well verified.
The limiting value of у (as can be found from table 4) is equal to 0.653, which is
quite consistent with the radius of convergence of the series for M(y), estimated
earlier. Moreover, the corresponding values of -F2 and e, namely
F 2 — 1.653, emajc = 0.827 (5.9)

T a b l e 3. C o e f f i c i e n t s i n t h e e x p a n s i o n s o f e, M, T
AND Vm POW ERS OF Ш

71 E M T V
0 1 .000000 1.000000 1.000000 1.000000
1 - .050 0 0 0 .350000 .650000 .250000
2 - .0 3 7 8 5 7 - .3 2 7 6 7 9 - .595536 - .4 3 8 3 9 3
3 - .0 2 4 1 9 6 - .1 0 6 6 5 2 - .2 1 6 0 3 9 - .1 4 8 7 7 7
4 - .0 1 7 8 8 6 - .0 4 1 4 6 1 - .0 7 9 5 6 0 - .0 5 8 6 9 6
5 - .0 1 2 4 9 5 - .0 2 6 9 9 5 - .054047 - .036427
6 - .007442 - .0 1 0 6 8 8 - .0 1 8 3 5 6 - .0 1 1 5 9 6
7 - .0 0 9 2 1 4 - .008586 - .0 1 7 6 3 6 - .0 1 5 0 9 9
8 .002 6 1 2 - .0 0 0 7 8 4 .001473 .009990
9 - .0 2 6 2 9 6 - .0 1 2 1 5 7 - .0 3 6 0 0 5 - .050047
10 .089517 .057553 .173921 .222498
11 - .6 2 4 0 7 4 - .384976 - 1 .1 6 1 0 2 0 - 1.357498
12 3.80 5 8 0 3.05844 9.1826 10.2853
13 - 3 4 .0 7 - 2 8 .7 5 - 8 6 .2 3 - 9 4 .1 8
14 364. 317. 950. 1021.

[N, iV ] e o r M , T
T a b l e 4. P a d e a p p r o x im a n ts
AND V AT TWO H IG H VALDES OF (i)

N M T V
1 2 .6 4704 .948117 .776295’
2 2 .00866 .566769 .455148
3 1.97105 .542441 .442753
4 1.96612 .539911 .440575 hi = 0.95
5 1.96454 .538266 .439735
6 1.96447 .537943 .439488
7 1.96432 .537928 .439444

1 2.72686 1.030925 .839691

2 1.95986 .548482 .436380
3 1.90715 .512723 .418231
4 1.89958 .508686 .414792 (O - 1.00
5 1.89698 .505855 .413384
6 1.89689 .6 05269 .412954
7 1.89664 .605241 .412875,
1164

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 483

agree closely with Y am ada’s (1 9 5 7 ) estimate emax = 0.828 derived from a direct
calculation of the profile of the highest wave, and Lenau’s (1 9 6 6 ) result
Стал • 0 .8 2 7

derived independently from the solution of an integral equation.f

The behaviour of M , T , V, у and e as functions of ы is shown graphically in
figure 4. W hen ш is small, these quantities ате evidently all increasing functions of ш.

F i g u r e 4. T he m ass M , c irculation G, w ave h e ig h t e, k in etic en erg y T, p o te n tia l en erg y V ,

LagTangian L a n d у — J 12— I , w here F ia th e non-dim ensional wav© speed, as fu n c tio n s
of th e p a ra m e te r 10. T h e p lo tte d p o in ts d enote th e ro ugh e stim a te s for th e w ave o f lim itin g
a m p litu d e given in p a p e r I.

t L en a u also p o in te d o u t th a t th is is p ra ctic a lly th e sam e valu e as can be o b ta in e d fro m

a solution d u e to P a c k h a m ( 1952 ), who a p p ro x im ate d the pressure condition a t th e free su rface,
replacing ain 6 b y sin 30. I f in P a c k h a m ’a solution one se ts I — 1 one obtain s
= V27/2tc = 0.8270
(see also Davies 1952).
 1165

484 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

The most striking feature of the diagram is that while 6 is increasing throughout
the entire range, both M, T, V and у have maxima between ы = 0.80 and ы = 1 .0 0 .
The maximum in M was suspected by Fenton (1972 ). On the other hand the maxima
in V, T and у are more surprising, and may have some im portant physical con­
sequences (see §§8 and 9).
Using w as a parameter, the variables M and e can now be plotted as functions
of F 2 (see figures 2 and 3). The previously found behaviour of the series for Ы and e
in powers of у can now be explained. For, beyond a certain value of F 2, both M
and e are double-valued functions of F z. The ordinary partial sums S* cannot

T a b l e 5. C a l c u l a t e d v a l u e s o f M, T, F, y, e, F, L, С and I fo b p a e tic u la b
VALUES OF T HE PABAMETEB (i)

01 M T V У e F L С 1
.05 0.5250 .00887 .00870 .04971 .04986 1.02456 .00017 .5206 .5379
.10 0.7534 .02578 .02484 .09891 .09946 1.04829 .00094 .7406 .7898
• IS 0.9344 .04845 .04593 .14746 .14873 1.07120 .00252 .9105 1.0009
.20 1.0906 .07603 .07100 .19531 .19765 1.09333 .00503 1.0533 1.1924
.25 1.2299 .10792 .09935 .24234 .24617 1.11460 .00857 1.1772 1.3708
.30 1.3563 .14354 .13041 .28845 .29423 1.13510 .01313 1.2866 1.5395
.35 1.4715 .18231 .16359 .33352 .34176 1.15478 0.1872 1.3835 1.6993
.40 1.5765 .22361 .19833 .37741 .38871 1.17363 .02528 1.4692 1.8503
.45 1.6717 .26671 .23399 .41991 .43496 1.19160 .03272 1.5443 1.9920
.50 1.7572 .31081 .26991 .46081 .48040 1.20864 .04090 1.6095 2.1236
.55 1.8326 .35499 .30532 .49981 .52491 1.22467 .04967 1.6646 2.2443
.60 1.8975 .39819 .33939 .53658 .56829 1.23959 .05880 1.7097 2.3521
.66 1.9510 .43915 .37117 .57074 .61036 1.25329 .06798 1.7444 2.4452
.70 1.9923 .47646 .39956 .60166 .65082 1,26557 .07690 1.7684 2.5214
.75 2.0203 .50844 .42332 .62860 .68930 1.27617 .08512 1.7814 2.5782
.80 2.033 .53313 .4410 .6506 .7253 1.2848 .0921 1.782 2.612
.85 2.030 .5482 .4510 .6665 .7583 1.2909 .0972 1.771 2.621
.90 2.008 .5509 .4512 .6742 .7871 1.2939 .0997 1.746 2.598
.95 1.964 .5379 .4394 .6711 .8108 1.2927 .0985 1.707 2.539
1.00 1.897 .5052 .413 .653 .827 1.286 .0924 1.653 2.440

possibly converge beyond the radius of convergence: F 2 = 1.653. Even the P ad 6

approximants [jV, N], which can converge beyond this point, are necessarily single­
valued, and cannot yield values for M and e beyond the point where F 2 takes its
maximum value.
Figure 2 also suggests a reason for the rather higher estimates of em»x made
by Byatt-Sm ith ( 1970 ) and Fenton ( 1972 ). These estimates were based on an
extrapolation of the relation between e and F for waves of substantially less
than the maximum amplitude, and so did not take account of the sharp curvature
of the actual curve near e = emIlx.
The maximum value of F we find to be 1.294, corresponding to e = 0.790. I t is
perhaps significant th at Byatt-Smith was unable to obtain convergence in his
integral equation for any value of F greater than 1.293. This would be consistent
with a natural expectation th at in the neighbourhood of a stationary value of F
1166

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 485

the integral equation would not have a unique solution, and hence would not
converge.
We have also examined the P ad 6 approximants to M and F 2 derived from the
series in powers of e. However, the approximants derived from the w-series converge
more rapidly than those from the e-series, in both cases. In every case, for both
M and F 2, the P ad 6 approximants converge more rapidly and regularly th an do
the Shanks transforms.
For practical use, we have given in table 5 the values of M , T , V, e and у at
equal intervals of u>. Also given in table 5, and shown graphically in figure 4, are
the values of the circulation C, defined by

C = | “ u -d s = $ ]? „ , (5.Ю)

(see I; и and ф refer to the motion with respect to a stationary frame of reference,
in which и -»■ 0 at infinity). To calculate С we used the relations
2T = F ( I - C ) A
(5.11)
1 = FM, j
given in (I), from which
С = M F - 2T/ F. (5.12)
Evidently С has a maximum at about w = 0.775. The limiting value of G, from
table 5, is 1.653. Hence we can state th at for the limiting wave
С = -Р2 (5.13)
very nearly. We conjecture th a t this relation is exact.

6. D isc u ssio n

The most unexpected of our findings, namely the maxima in M, T , V and F 2,

may be made to seem more reasonable in the following way.
When the wave height e is a little less than the maximum, the crest will be rounded,
so th at the wave profile is rounded and convex, in at least a short horizontal interval
enclosing the crest. On the other hand, in the limiting wave, the surface profile
consists of two concave arcs, and the surface elevation immediately falls away w ith
horizontal distance from the crest. Hence, if as the wave amplitude approaches its
limit, the crest ‘flips u p ’ locally, the limiting wave profile may intersect the profile
of a wave having slightly smaller amplitude, and it is easy to see th a t the to tal
volume M of the limiting wave can indeed be slightly less.
Further, the kinetic energy T and potential energy F, both of which can be
expressed as integrals over the volume of the wave, can also be slightly reduced, for
th e same reason.
Now we may also define rj, the weighted average of tj taken over the energetic
part of the wave, by
rj = f Tj2i x l f rjdx (6 . 1 )
J —m I J — CO
 1167

486 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

and by the same argument it is not difficult to see th a t fj may actually diminish
as the limiting wave is approached. But rj is also related to the wave speed jРг,
for from ( 6 . 1 ) and ( 3 . 1 ) we have
ij = 2V/M = §(-F2 - l ) . (6.2)
Therefore a alight decrease in fj implies also a decrease in the speed F.
Another view of this phenomenon is to be gained from the remark th at in a
solitary wave the speed F is related to the exponent ( —2a) in the outskirts of the
wave profile by Stokes’s equation (2.4). As the wave amplitude e increases, F also
increases at first, hence the total width of the wave diminishes. But in the final
stages of growth, as e approaches eraax, a slightly wider ‘base ’ is required to support
the highest waves and so F must finally decrease slightly.
I t would be instructive to draw the actual sequence of wave profiles, from the
wave of lowest amplitude to the highest wave. It would then necessarily be found
th a t whereas a t the lower amplitudes each profile intersects the preceding profile
a t only one point in the interval 0 < x < со, the highest wave intersects its neigh­
bours in two points in 0 < x < oo.
However, as pointed out in §5, the wave profile t)(x), and particularly the height
?7(0 ) of the wave crest, is not determined so accurately by the use of series expansions
as are the integral properties represented by M, T and F, which have been used
for the calculation of F. We therefore leave the accurate determination of the
surface profile for a future study.

7. T h e t o t a l e n e rg y

Figures 5 and 6 show the mass M, the momentum I and the total energy
E = T + V as functions of the wave height e. I t is remarkable th at the curves for
E and \M practically touch, not far from the maximum value of F. We can, how­
ever, show th at if the curves do indeed touch then the point of contact is not
exactly a t the maximum of F. For from equations (3.1) and (3.2) we have in general
3 d F = (F 2- l ) d M + M d F j
(7.1)
J ^ f d r - d F ) = TdF* J
and if the curves in figure 5 touch, then
d T + d V = ld M . (7.2)
From the last three equations we may eliminate AT and d F to give
Нрт 4 р т -7
S r = <73>
which does not vanish. On the contrary, from figure 5 we see th at

-т— Ф 1.68
de
cLF2 dF2dM A
-dT = d M - a r * 0-050-
1168

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 487

The horizontal distance Дб to the maximum of F 2 is thus given by

which is small, b u t consistent with our calculations.

F iqttbe 6. T h e m o m e n tu m I, m asa M a n d to ta l energy E show n

as fu n c tio n s o f th e norm alized w ave h e ig h t e.

In general it appears from figure 5 th at

M > 2 ( T + V ). (7.4)
On substituting for T and V from equations (3.1) and (5.11) we have
M > (FiM - F C ) - l ( F i - l) M - ,
th at is, *(F2 - 1)M > FG (7.5)
or 5 V>FC. (7.6)
 1169

488 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

8. C o m pa r iso n w it h o b se r v a t io n

The best modern observations of speed and surface profile of solitary waves are
probably those of D aily & Stephan (1951, 1952) who were able to make measure­
ments over the range of wave amplitudes corresponding to 0 < e < 0 .62 , or about
three-quarters of the range of e. They were not able to obtain wave amplitudes very
close to the theoretical maximum. In figure 7 their experimental plot of F against
e is reproduced, together with our theoretical curve. Also shown are two earlier
approximations. Evidently the observations agree better with our theoretical curve
than with either of the two approximations. However, there appears to be a
1170

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 489

 1171

490 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

systematic tendency for the observed wave height to exceed slightly the theoretical
wave height, for a given value of F. This may be due partly to the presence of a viscous
boundary-layer at the bottom, but also may be due to a general tendency for
unsteady motions to be associated with augmented heights. In experiments with
solitary waves on shoaling beaches, Ippen & Kulin (1955) found maximum ampli­
tudes far in excess o f the corresponding amplitude in water of uniform depth,
generally b y a factor of 2 or 3 . It is possible that in uniform depth unsteadiness due
to energy dissipation m ay produce a similar effect.
D aily & Stephan (1952) did not report observations of waves with amplitudes
greater than 0 .62 . This could be due simply to their method of wave generation.
For, if it is true that a plunger tends to generate waves of a given mass M and
impulse I depending on the stroke of the plunger, then, over a range in which M
and I are nearly stationary with respect to e, it will be hard indeed for the apparatus
to select a unique wave.
Furthermore since from figure 5 the increment of the total energy E is also small
beyond e = 0 . 65 , we see that only a slight loss of energy can appreciably reduce the
wave amplitude to a point lower down the energy curve. In small-scale experiments
in a channel of uniform depth, and with side walls, such losses are appreciable (see
Ippen & Kulin 1955). Hence the higher waves are more likely to be obtained by
generating waves of moderate amplitude, which are then made to propagate into
a gradually narrowing channel, or into water of very gradually diminishing depth,
as discussed in the next section.

9. O n t h e b r e a k in g of w a v es in sh a ll o w w a t e r

From figures 5 and 6 it is clear that the total energy E (or in dimensional terms
E/gh3) has a maximum at about e = 0 .778 . The presence of this maximum has some
interesting and far-reaching consequences for the w ay in which solitary waves
break as they enter shoaling water.
Most observers (Mason 1952; Iverson 1952; Ippen & Kulin 1955) have dis­
tinguished two main types of breaking wave: on the one hand the ‘ plunging’
breaker, in which the forward face of the wave grows markedly steeper than the
rear slope, and finally the crest falls violently into the forward face; on the other
hand the ‘ spilling’ breaker, in which the crest remains practically symmetrical
and a quasi-ateady whitecap, or roller, forms on the forward face. The height of
plunging breakers, at the moment of plunging, is noticeably variable, and ranges
from 0 .9A to about 3 .0A, depending on the slope of the beach (see Ippen & Kulin
1955). The height of symmetrical spilling breakers, on the other hand, is much less,
lying between about 0 .65Л and 0 .85 Д.
N ow a solitary wave entering slowly shelving water will, if it is not breaking,
have only a small dissipation of energy, arising mainly from friction at the bottom.
Its total energy Egh3 (in dimensional units) will therefore remain almost constant.
A s the depth k decreases, the non-dimensional energy E will accordingly increase.
1172

M ass, momentum, energy and circulation of a solitary wave. I I 491

The wave ■mil therefore tend to evolve along the curve of figure 5, with both e and
В increasing at first.
However, when the maximum value of E is attained the wave can no longer re ­
main symmetrical. I t m ust therefore become unsymmetrical and possibly unsteady.
I f it is evolving slowly, as on a gentle slope, it may develop small instabilities on
the forward face of the wave, and in this way lose enough energy to enable it to
proceed down the declining energy curve towards the symmetrical wave of maximum
amplitude. A t this point, or close to it, there may momentarily be a balance between
the energy lost through the instabilities on the forward face (which in large waves
will develop into a whitecap) and the relative energy E gained through diminishing
depth of water. However, if the dissipation is sufficient, the energy will fall below
the threshold value 0.9!8<?й.а and the wave will jump back to a point on the lower
p a rt of the energy curve. Most probably, since some energy m ay be lost whereas
momentum is conserved over a short distance, the wave will jump to a point on the
energy curve where the impulse I is close to its limiting value 2A4;\ This occurs
when the wave height e is about 0.64. The wave will then grow again and the process
repeat itself. This hypothesis is well in accordance with the marked interm ittency
noticed in spilling breakers by Longuet-Higgins & Turner ( 19 7 4 ).
If on the other hand the beach slope is relatively steep, then the solitary wave,
on arriving at the maximum value of E, may not be able to dissipate sufficient
energy soon enough to enable it to descend the energy curve towards the wave of
maximum amplitude. In this case it evolves rapidly into an unsymmetrical wave,
and ultimately becomes a plunging breaker. Because the wave is not restricted to
a symmetrical form, its height can ultimately be much greater than the limiting
value of 0.827 for the symmetrical wave.

10. C onclusio ns
By accurate calculation, and the use of integral quantities such as the mass and
potential energy, we have determined the behaviour of the wave speed and other
parameters of the solitary wave, as functions of the wave height e, over the entire
range 0 < e < 0.827. We have shown th at the speed F , the mass M and the potential
and kinetic energies, all have maxima within the range of wave amplitudes.
There is good agreement between our theoretical values of F and the best available
observations of solitary waves in water of uniform depth, which however extend
only as far as e = 0.62. The absence of observations of very high waves in water of
uniform depth can be accounted for by the reduction in wave amplitude a s s o c ia t e d
with only a very slight loss of energy.
Considerable light can be thrown on the breaking of solitary waves in shallow
water by the single fact th a t the highest wave is not the most energetic. To obtain
greater energy the wave must become asymmetrical and probably unstable. The
t A n y a d d itio n al m ass M c a n alw ays b e accom m odated in th e fringes of th e w ave, w ith o u t
a lterin g th e m ean level.

31 V o l. 340. A.
 1173

492 M. S. Longuet-Higgins and J. D. Fenton

growth of the asymmetry and the nature of the instabilities which seem to develop
on the forward face of the wave would repay farther study, both theoretical and
experimental. On the smaller scales, however, such instabilities are bound to be
influenced strongly by surface tension, which we have so far ignored, as having
increasingly less effect when the wavelength is enlarged.
The reasons given in § 6 for the existence of an energy maximum for solitary
waves must also apply to periodic gravity waves, including waves in deep water.
Thus we may expect to find similar phenomena for breaking in deep water, par­
ticularly some instabilities on the forward face of each wave and a marked inter-
m ittency in spilling breakers. The detailed discussion of waves in deep water is
left for a separate study.

Note added on 6 M ay 1974. Since completing our calculations it has come to our
notice th at W itting ( 1974 ) has arrived at a similar conclusion regarding the asymp­
totic nature of the series (2 . 2 ), but by a quite different approach. His conclusion
is based in p art on an examination of the numerical behaviour of the coefficients
in an expansion of (ж-f iy) about the point (ф +ifr) = 00 (where ф is the velocity
potential). He suggests th at in general an expansion in integral powers is not
complete. (It m ust be adm itted, however, th at asymptotic series can give highly
accurate results.) In the special case of the highest wave, his numerical results suggest
th a t the series (2 .2 ) may be complete, and that, if so, then em&x = ^/27/27: = 0.82 7—
Thus in this case his conclusions independently confirm our own.

We are indebted to Dr L. W. Schwartz for comments on a first draft of this paper.

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L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. 1974 O n th e m ass, m o m e n tu m , en erg y a n d c irc u la tio n o f a s o lita ry
w a v e. Proc. R . Soc. Lond. A 337, 1—13.
L o n g u et-H ig g in s, M. S. & T u rn e r, J . S. 1974 A n ‘e n tra in in g p lu m e ’ m odel o f a spilling
b re a k e r. J . F lu id Mech. 63, 1—20.
M cCow an, J . 1891 O n th e so lita ry w ave. Phil. Mag. (6 ) 32, 46-68.
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B u re a u o f S ta n d a rd s, C ircu la r 621, p p . 216-220. W ash in g to n D .C.
M ilne-T hom eon, L. M. 1964 A n e x a c t in te g ra l e q u a tio n for th e so lita ry w ave. Rev. Roum.
Sci. Techn.-M&c. A p p l. 9, 1189-1194.
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Proc. R . Soc. Lond. A 213, 238—249.
R a y le ig h , L o rd 3876 O n w aves. Phil. M ag. 1 (5), 267-279. (See also P a p e rs, vol. 1, p . 251.
C am bridge U n iv e rsity P ress.)
B u ssell, J . S. 1844 Report an waves. B ritish A ssociation R e p o rt.
S c h w a rtz, L. W . 1972 A n a ly tic c o n tin u a tio n o f S to k e s’ ex p an sio n for g r a v ity w aves. P h .D .
d isse rta tio n , S ta n fo rd U n iv e rsity , D ec. 1972.
S c h w itte rs, D . J . 1966 T he e x a c t profile of th e so litary w ave. P h .D . d isse rta tio n , U n iv e rs ity
o f A rizona.
S h an k s, D . 1956 N o n lin e a r tra n s fo rm a tio n s o f d iv e rg e n t a n d slow ly c o n v erg e n t sequences.
J . math. Phys. 34, 1—42.
S ta rr, V . T . 1947 M o m en tu m a n d en erg y in te g rals fo r g ra v ity w aves o f fin ite h e ig h t. J . m a r.
Res. 6 , 175-193.
S tokes, G. G. 1880 O n th e th e o ry o f o scillato ry w aves. M ath, and Phys. P ap. 1, 197—229, 314.
C am bridge U n iv e rsity P ress.
Strelkoff, T . 1971 A n e x a c t nu m erical solution o f th e so lita ry w ave. Proc. 2nd In t. Con}.
N u m . Methods F lu id D yn., pp. 441-446. Springer.
T h o m a s, J . W . 1967 O n th e e x ac t form of g ra v ity w aves on th e surface of a n in v iscid liq u id .
P h D . d isse rta tio n , U n iv e rsity o f A rizona.
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Rc. (Cl. Sci. F is. M a t. N a t.) 3, 463-168.
W ittin g , J . 1974 O n th e h ig h est a n d o th er so lita ry w aves. S ym posium o n M odem D e v elo p ­
m e n t in F lu id D ynam ics, H a ifa -E ila t, D ec. 1973. A b s tra c t a n d m a n u s c rip t s u b m itte d
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Y a m ad a , H . 3957 O n th e highest so lita ry w ave. Rep. Res. Inst. A ppl. Mech. K yushu Univ. 5,
53-67.

31-2
 1175

Proc. R . Soc. L and. A. 342, 167-174 (1976)

Printed in Great Britain

Integral properties of periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude

B y M. S. L o n g u e t-H ig g in s , F.R.S.
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics,
University of Cambridge, and Institute of Oceanographic Sciences,
Wormley, Surrey

(Received 12 July 1974)

A num ber of exact relations are proved for periodic water waves of finite
am plitude in water of uniform depth. Thus in deep water the mean fluxes
of mass, momentum and energy are shown to be equal to 2T/c, (4T —3F)
and (3 T —2V)c respectively, where T and F denote the kinetic and
potential energies and с is the phase velocity. Some parametric properties
of the solitary wave are here generalized, and some particularly simple
relations are proved for variations of the Lagrangian (T —F). The integral
properties of the wave are related to the constants Q, R and S which occur
in cnoidal wave theory.
The speed, momentum and energy of deep-water waves are calculated
numerically by a method employing a new expansion parameter. W ith the
aid of Pade approximants, convergence is obtained for waves having
amplitudes np to and including the highest. For the highest wave, the
computed speed and amplitude are in agreement with independent calcula­
tions by Yamada and Schwartz. At the same time the computations
suggest th a t the speed and energy, for waves of a given length, are greatest
when the height is less than the maximum. In this respect the present
results tend to confirm previous computations on solitary waves.

1. I n t r o d u c t io n

In a recent paper (Longuet-Higgins 1974 , to be referred to as (I)) some new relations

were found between certain fundamental integral properties of solitary waves in
water. These relations were used to obtain simple approximations to the profile of
th e solitary wave of maximum amplitude and, in a second paper (Longuet-Higgins
& Fenton 1974 ) to assist in the accurate calculation of the speed, energy, momentum,
etc., of solitary waves of arbitrary amplitude.
One of the unexpected findings of the second paper (П) was th at the speed and
energy of solitary waves attain maxima for waves of less than the maximum ampli­
tude. This property has possible implications for the manner in which waves break
in shallow water.
There is naturally some interest in the question whether all gravity waves of
finite amplitude have a similar property. The present paper was stimulated by an
attem pt to answer this question for periodic gravity waves and in particular for
gravity waves in deep water. The answer, as we shall see, is in the affirmative.

11 [ 167 ] (25 F eb ru a ry 1975) V o l. 342. A.

1176

158 M. S. Longuet-H iggins

In the first p a rt of the paper we deduce a num ber of exact relations for periodic
waves in water of uniform depth (and in particular when the depth is large compared
to a wavelength). The analysis for waves of finite length differs in some significant
respects from th a t for solitary waves, and some new definitions are required.
L et rectangular coordinates (x , y) be chosen with the ж-axis horizontal and the
y - axis vertically upwards. L et the equations of the free surface and the bottom be
у — 7j and у = —h respectively. The velocity (u,v) is assumed irrotational ( = V^)
and periodic in x with wavelength A.
We choose axes so th a t the mean elevation 7j, given by

A i / = J % c ix = M (1.1)

is zero. So the origin lies in the mean surface level, and h equals the mean depth (or
the mass per u n it horizontal distance).
Similarly by choosing axes moving with the required horizontal velocity, we m ay
make the mean velocity Й, defined by

Aw = j" wdx = = С ( 1 .2 )

vanish a t one particular level and hence (since the motion is irrotational) a t all levels
within the fluid.
The wavelength A being finite, the vanishing of rj and v, implies th a t both M and С
m ust vanish, whereas for the solitary wave both these quantities are positive (see (I)).
We define the mean wave momentum or im pulse per unit horizontal distance

/ =J ’ udy (1.3)
(an overbar denotes the average over one wavelength or period), the mean kinetic
energy

T =J > ^ ) d „ , (1-4)

and the mean potential energy

V = ^gydy. <U)

We also define the radiation stress (the excess flux of momentum due to the waves)

S*x = J ^{р + и * ) й у - \д № , (I-6)

and the mean energy flux

F = j IJ > + i ( u ~ + v i ) + 9 y ] u d y . ( 1. 7)
 1177

Periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude 169

Between these quantities some simple relations have been established. Thus
Levi-Civita ( 1924 ) showed th a t
2 T = cl, (B)
where с is the phase velocity. A short proof is given in § 2 of this paper, where we
also deduce some alternative expressions for the kinetic energy T. Next in § 3 we
prove th a t
S xx = 4 T -Z V + h tfb, (C)
where denotes the mean velocity on the bottom. We show th a t (C) is another
form of a relation due to Starr ( 1947 ). I t becomes particularly simple in deep water,
when ub tends to zero. Similarly we prove th at in general
F = (3 T -2 V ) c + b(ch+ l)u[,
a relation not found previously. In deep water this also simplifies, so th a t the three
fluxes of mass, momentum and energy are given respectively by
1 = 2T/c, F = (3 T -2 V )c ,
(the first relation remains true in water of any depth).
In § 4 we deduce some new parametric relations between these integral properties,
which govern the rates of increase of T , V and с when the wave amplitude is allowed
to vary, with the depth and wavelength fixed. For instance we show th a t

d(77c3) = ( l / c 2)d F > (D )

which generalizes a result proved previously for the solitary wave. (Equations (B),
and (C) and (D) are analogues of the corresponding equations of paper (I).) from (D)
can be deduced a number of interesting relations, particularly some involving the
Lagrangian (T - V).
Finally in § 5 these integral properties of the waves will be related to the quantities
Q, R and S introduced into shallow-water theory by Benjamin & LighthLU (1 9 5 4 ).
I t is noted th a t the integral quantities I , T and V may have some advantages as
parameters of the wave motion, particularly in deep water.
We emphasize th at all the relations just mentioned are exact, and do not in any
way depend upon the approximations either of small-amplitude wave theory or of
cnoidal wave theory.
In the second part of the paper we use some of the above relations to calculate the
values of I, T , V and с for waves in deep water. The small-amplitude expansions for
this case are quite different from those used previously for solitary waves. Never­
theless a similar result appears, namely th at the speed, momentum and energy all
appear to attain their maximum values for wave amplitudes less than the limiting
amplitude (for which the crest angle is 120°). Moreover, the calculated values of the
speed and height of waves of limiting amplitude are in very good agreement with
the independent calculations of Yamada (1957 ) and Schwartz ( 1974 ). Further
discussion of these results is given in § 7.
11-2
1178

160 M. S. Longuet-H iggins

2. M o m en tu m a n d k in e tic e n e r g y

L et —Q be the mass flux in the steady flow relative to an observer moving with
the phase velocity c, th a t is let

J-A (u - c ) d y - -Q . (2 .1)

On integrating each side with respect to x between 0 and A we have

M -c (A h + M ) = -A Q , (2 .2 )
where M is given by (1.1). Since M is taken to be zero this gives
ch —I = Q, (A)
a relation analogous to equation (A) of (I).
Now to prove equation (B) of § 1 we have from (1.4)

2A21 = f f {[(w —c) + c]2 + t>s}d«/da:

Jo J-ft
= JJ* [(« —c)2 + w!]da;dj/ + 2 cJJ* (u —c)da;dy + c2 JJd a id y

= JJdtf> d ! ? - 2cAQ + c2(Ah + M),

where Ф and *Pdenote the velocity potential and stream function of the steady flow,
since 5(Ф, xF )ld(x,y) = [(m—c)2 + «*]. But
[Ф]* _ 0 = О -А с, [VF]J— л ----
Hence 2 AT = —Q(G —Ac) —2cAQ + c2(Ah + M )
= -Q C -c A Q + c\AK + M)
= -Q O + cAI, (2.3)
by (2 .2 ). Taking С = 0 , we arrive at equation (B).
I t is worth noting th at in some physical circumstances it is appropriate to assume
7 = 0 (the total horizontal flux is zero) rather than G = 0. Then equation (2.3)
lead st" 2T - - Q C / A , (2.4)
a different result in general.
Equations (A) and (B) have some further consequences. Since (ж + й/) is an
analytic function of (Ф+iW} we have, by the Cauchy-Riemann relations

where the integral may be taken over one wavelength, and from bottom to free
surface. Hence
I {h+Tj) АФ = —AQ.
J
 1179

Periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude 161

Since Ф « ф —сх and d Ф = Аф —сАх we have

by (A). Hence J * (A + ??)d0 - A(ch-Q ) = XI

^г)Аф = AJ —hC. (2.5)

Taking С = 0 , equation (B) now gives

2T = (c/\) j rj Аф. (2.6)
This is analogous to equation (2 .2 ) of (I).
F urther we have
d$ = d<Z>+ cdar = —gds + cda:, (2.7)
where q is the speed at the free surface in the steady motion. Writing
P+ i[(M- c )2 + ws] + ?(j/+A) = R, (2.8)
for the total head we have
qz = 2R —2g(k + i]).
Hence altogether (2 .6 ) yields

2 T = (c/A) {с —(1 +T)'2)l [2R —2 g(h + ?)]*} dx, (E)

where 7)' = Atj/Ax . This expresses the kinetic energy as an integral involving only
the surface elevation i) and other constants of the motion.

3. Momentum f l u x and p o t e n t i a l e n e r g y
To prove relation (C), let us assume th at M and С both vanish, and consider
Bernoulli's equation in the form
[p + (w - c)2] + (gy - c2) + v2+ [p + gy) = 25, (3.1)
where clearly we have from equation (2 .8 )
В = R —gh—£ca. (3.2)
Now by the equation of vertical momentum

1)г,+
(y + A)|D НгСР + 9,У)1 = 0-
i ' by (3-3)
Adding (3.1) and(3.3) andrearrangingterms wehave
0 +(«-с)г+(да-с2)]+^[(у +А)«>]+^[(г/+А)(р+5гг/)] = 2В. (3.4)
Onintegrating the first group of terms ontheleft of (3.4) weget
Jo j ”h^ +(W~ ~ + ~ ^ ^ = ^ Sxx~ 2Cl + ^
11 so

162 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

W hen integrated similarly, the second group of term s in (3.4) vanishes, while the
third group yields (since p vanishes at the free surface)
•A
(h+i))gtjdx ~ ghM + 2 AF = 2AF.
1.
Altogether we find ^(jS^ —2cI + 3F) = 2 ABh,

and so S jj = i T —3F + 2 .BA. (3.5)

A simple expression for В can be found as follows. Consider the total vertical
momentum of the fluid over one wavelength, between x = 0 and x = A, say. Its
tim e-rate of change is zero. Since this rate of change is the result of the external
forces acting on i t we m ust have simply
A
p b dz = \gh,

where p b is the pressure on the bottom. The fluxes of vertical momentum across the
two planes x — 0 , A just cancel, by periodicity. So on integrating both sides of (3.1)
over one wavelength a t у = —h we obtain

2 B = i f Au»d.T = < , (3.6)

where u b denotes the velocity on the bottom.

On substituting for В into equation (3.5) we obtain the relation (C).
In deep water it can be shown (see, for example, Longuet-Higgins 1 9 5 3 ) th a t
(it2 + v2) decreases exponentially with y, in any motion which is irrotational, incom­
pressible and periodic in x, and such th a t v, = 0. Hence as со
Bh-*- 0,
and (C) reduces to = 4T —3F. (C')
Note th a t for waves of infinitesimal amplitude T = F = \E , where E is the total
density of energy per unit horizontal area. Equation (C') then reduces to

the well-known relation for waves of small amplitude (Longuet-Higgins & Stewart
i 9 6 0 ).
I t can be shown th a t equation (C) is related to equation (4.5) of Starr ( 1 9 4 7 ),
which involves th e difference in kinetic energies of the horizontal and vertical
motions.
The mean energy flux F defined in § 1 can be expressed in terms of the other
quantities. For from (1.7) and (3.1) we have

F —f (B + cu)udy = B I + c j" -urdy (3.7)

J -ft J -л
 1181

Periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude 163

and from ( 1 . 6 )

s xx+ F = Jf-ft {p + gy)dy +JГ-л vtd y. (3.8)

But from (3.1) В = (p + gy) + \(и г + ьг) - с и .

So on integrating with respect to у and taking mean values,

Bh = J* ^(p + gy)dy + T - c I .

Using equation (B) we have then

j ' J p + gy)dy = T + Bh. (3.9)

From (3.7), (3.8) and (3.9) it follows th at

F = B I +c iS ^ + V - T - B h ) ,
and so on substituting for S ^ from (3.5) we find
F = (3T —2V)c + (I+ ch)B . (3.10)
In deep water, when B h -y 0 , we have simply
F = (3 T -2 V )c . (3.11)
Рог waves of small amplitude this reduces to
F = \E c ,
the usual formula, since $c equals the group velocity, j

4. D i f f e r e n t ia l r e l a t i o n s

We shall now prove some differential relations between I, T , V and с by using

a variational method analogous to th at used in paper (I) (see also Luke (1967) and
Benjamin ( 1973 )).
The total energy AE over one wavelength m ay be written

Ш = ^ ^^ +Jo dal’ ^1*

where ф is the velocity potential. The motion being progressive, the kinematical
and dynamical conditions at the free surface can be written

ФхЧх~~ Фу “ ^ 2)
W l +ФЬ) +SV = сФх + constant./
t T h e re la tio n s (3.10) a n d (3.11) a re n o t am ong th o se given b y S ta rr & P la tz m a n ( 1948 ).
E q u a tio n (32.48) o f W ehauaen & L aito n e ( i 960 ) a p p e a rs to be tr u e o nly if В = 0 a n d 0 = 1 .
1182

164 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

Now let 8 ф and 5?; denote arbitrary small variations of the velocity potential and
surface elevation such th a t бфх and 877 are periodic with period Л. I t follows th a t
[8 ф]*х+* = 80, (4.3)
independently of the point x = (x,y). Assuming th a t 8 ^j= 0 we have

ЛЪЕ = J o (фх Ъфх + фу Ьфу) dy da;+ [\{ф% +Ф\) + g v \ Si? da?

= | ( s ^)s |^ d s + [ ’ fc[8 ^ ] ^ * d y + J e с(фх)„ Щ йх

by Green’s theorem and (4.2), where a suffix 4 denotes the value at the free surface,
an<^ дф . , , . da: da:

by (4.2). Hence
A SE = с f * [(фх)38 , - ( 8 ф М d x + S c f ' фя dу. (4.4)

Also, starting from XI = ( f фх dy dz,

Jo J -л

we find AS1 = f f Ьфх dy da: + I" {фх),Вг] da:, (4.5)

Joj-ft Jo
S p C4
and since ^80d?/ = j 5фх йу + Г]х (5ф)в,

we have on integration with respect to x,

(h+Tj)bC = f f B ^dj/da:-!-f •r)x(Sф)вdx. (4.6)

jo J - f t jo
From (4.4), (4.6) and (4.6) it follows th at

Л {Ь Е -сЫ ) = J J ’ фх dy —c(h + 17)J 80 = —в 50. (4.7)

Taking 50 = 0 as before we have

8 E = с 87. (4.8)
Suppose now th a t the variations Ъф and Щ are specialized но as to describe the
growth of a wave of fixed wavelength A b u t variable amplitude. Then we may write

d ( T + F ) = c d l. (4.9)

B ut in addition equation (B) will apply, so th a t we have also

2 d T = c d l + ld c . (4.10)
Subtracting, we get d {T —V) = ld c . (4-11)
 1183

Periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude 165

These relations are identical with those for solitary waves (see (I) § 3) except th at
now I, T and V denote densities of momentum and energy. I t follows immediately
th a t c[ ( T \ _ 1 d 7
dc \c2) с2 dr: ' (D)

and if L = T —V denotes the Lagrangian, then

S - т - * <D">

?$--«■ <D"'
I - J/dc - J V £ - F d ( i .) - - c j ® d ( i ) . (D -l

Equation (4.9) may be further generalized to include variations in the wave­

length Л and depth h by the following argument.
I f in (4.1) we allow a change 6 h in the depth but keep A constant, then an extra
term -л
J da: 5A = AB bh,

m ust be added to the right-hand side of (4.4), and an extra term

щ, dz Sh = С 5h,

m ust be added to (4 .5 ). Since С = 0 this means th a t equation (4.8) becomes in general

8E = c b I + B 5h. (4.12)
Hence for the special variations appropriate to free waves we have in place of (4.11 )
the more general relation
dL = I d c —B d h . (4.13)
I f we now include variations in the wavelength A, equation (4.13) becomes
dL = I d c - B d A + K d A, (4.14)
where the coefficient к remains to be determined. Consider a variation which simply
enlarges th e scale of the wave, keeping the shape constant, then since A is propor­
tional to h and since L e c h 2 and с ос h i we have from (4.14)
2 L = \ c I - B H + kA, (4.15)
or on using equation (B)
* = ( T - 2 P + B*)/A. (416)
Altogether then we have
dL = 2Tdc/c + ( T —2 V + Bh) dA/A —S d A . ( 4. 17)
1184

166 M. S. Longuet-Higgins

5. R e la tio n to Q, R a n d S
We now seek to express the above relations in terms of the constants Q, R and S
used by Benjamin & Lighthill ( 1954 ) in their approxim ate theory of enoidal waves.
Q and R have already been defined in (2 . 1 ) and (2.8) respectively. The third
constant S is the momentum flux in the steady motion:

<S = J [p + (tt-c)*]dy. (5.1)

On expanding the right-hand side and taking mean values it is readily seen th a t
S = S xz- 2 c l + h{c2+)i gh). (5.2)
To express I, T and V in terms of Q, R and S we have, first, from equation (A),
I = ch -Q , (5.3)

then from equation (B), § 1 , 2T = c(ch —Q), (5-4)

and on eliminating ( S ^ —2c7) and В from (3.2), (3.5) and (5.2),
3F = 2 h R -S -% g h i . (5.5)

The radiation stress, from (5.2) and (5.3), is given by

S xx = S -2 c Q + h (c * ~ y h ), (5.6)
while from (3.9) we find after some reduction
F — Q(gh —c2—R) + $c(Rh + S) + ch(^c2—gh). (5.7)
From § 4 we can also write down differential relations for Q, R, S and c, but these
appear leas simple.
We note th a t apart from an arbitrary phase constant a gravity wave is uniquely
defined by three parameters, for instance the wavelength, wave height and the
mean depth. The three quantities Q, R and 8 are particularly suitable for use in
shallow water, when h Л. However, in deep water when hjX ->ao we have
Q ~ ch —In,
R ~ g h + \c2, (5.8)
S ~ igh2+ c2h -3 V m
where the suffix 00 denotes the limiting value as й/А->оо. Hence Q, R and S all tend
to infinity, for fixed A.
On the other hand all the integral quantities I, T, V, SB and F remain finite as
Л/А-»-оо. Any three of these quantities, within certain ranges, would serve to define
the motion. However no exact differential equation for the wave profile, with these
quantities as parameters, has yet been given.
 1185

Periodic gravity waves of finite amplitude 167

6. C a lc u la tio n o f с, T and 7 fo b w av es in d eep w a te e

We shall now apply some of the foregoing analysis to the calculation of the speed
and energy of finite-amplitude waves in deep water.
Following Stokes ( 1880 ) we consider the motion in a frame of reference moving
with the phase velocity, and take the velocity potential Ф and stream-function 4?
as independent variables. Let
exp[i ( 0 + i W) / c ] = W (6 . 1 )
say. On the free surface we have
4> = 0 , W = eW', ( 6 . 2)

and as ^-> —oo, so W ~ -c y, W 0. (6.3)

In genera] (x + iy) is expanded in the Fourier series

[x + \y) = i |ln TT+ ag + Oj W+ \a 2 W *+... + ^ an Wn + ...j (6.4)

(the wavelength being normalized to 2n) and hence the particle velocity (U, v) is
given by

й к - т Ш г [1+а‘ 'г+ а г№ ' + - +а' а п + - )- <M

The coefficients Oj,a2, which are all real, are determined from the constant
pressure condition a t the free surface, which can be written
\U —\1)\2+ 2 д (у -а й) —К on W = 0, (6 .6 )
the constant aB being a t our disposal. Equating coefficients of cos (пФ/с) in this
equation we get a sequence of relations to be satisfied by alt a2, Oj,..., c2 and К (see,
for example, Schwartz 1974 ).
Schwartz assumes expansions in powers of a small param eter e, dependent on
the wave amplitude, in the form

o, = S ccjke * * )
k-0

C* = £ (6 .7 )
k-0
К = £ 5t e**,
k-0
and gives algorithms for the successive calculation of the coefficients a,jk, y k, 8k. As
expansion param eter Stokes ( 1880 ) chose e — a1. Schwartz ( 1974 ) shows th a t % is
not a monotonically increasing function of the wave height, and prefers instead
e = a, where a is the wave amplitude, defined by

® = ^(^?crest ^trough)* (®-®)

1186

168 M. S. Longuet-H iggins

Thus for instance it is found th a t

c2= l+a2+ l®‘+ Ja'-Ha8- —, \ ^

К = l+2a2- £ a « -$ ae- ^ a e- . . . . J 1 J
From these expressions we can calculate not only с bu t also I and T in powers of a,
for from equation (2.5) we have

I = ^ J ^ d 0 = ^ Ji?(cd* + dCP) = c ( v - o 0), (6.10)

while on letting у °° in BemoulU’s theorem we find from (6 .6 ) th a t

Z = c2 + 2?f f i - a 0). (6.11)

W ith g = 1 the last two equations yields

I = \ с ( К - с г), (6 . 12 )
and so T = \ c l = \ c \ K —c2). (6.13)
In calculating the potential energy F from equation (1.5) we m ust be careful to
choose a 0 so th a t the mean level 1j vanishes. Alternatively we can let a0 — 0 , as in
Schwartz ( 1974 ), and then use the more general relation
V = ig (V e ~ r i (6-14)
In terms of Oj, аг, ... we have, if aB = 0,
1 r inc / cte \ ® 3 a,a„a. “ o2
57®------ I l v —I d0 = V V —-— I V
1 2 n c ] a V ЭФ)* .о „Г 2 г+m-n 4Im 2m2’

and f 2lT' (у d<2> = £

2n c J 0 \ 0 m=i 2 m
Using the expansions of the coefficients an in powers of a as given by Schwartz we
find th a t

and ( T - F ) » ^ - ^ » - ^ » 0- . . . . (6.16)

These expansions confirm those obtained by Platzm an ( 1947 ), who expanded

T and F in powers of /? = (c2—l)i.
However, for waves oflarge amplitude a, terms of much higher order are required.
Nor is it known a priori what is the maximum value of a, expected to correspond to
the wave of limiting amplitude. For this purpose we introduce a new param eter u>
defined by
I ffc r e a t t r o u g h /д
c4l ’ V