Work

A synchrotron-like pumped ring resonator for water waves

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The wave-like behavior of matter in quantum physics has spurred insightful analogies between the dynamics of particles and waves in classical systems. In this study, drawing inspiration from synchrotrons that resonate to accelerate ions along a closed path, we introduce a synchrowave: a waveguide designed to generate and sustain traveling water waves within an annular channel. In analogy to unavoidable energy losses in conventional particle accelerators due to electromagnetic radiation and inelastic collisions, the system displays undesired water-wave dampening, which we address through the synchronized action of underwater wavemakers. Our analogies extend the resonance mechanisms of synchrotrons to generate and sustain gravity waves in closed waveguides efficiently. A proof-of-concept experiment at a laboratory scale demonstrates the unique capability of this technique to build up anomalously large traveling waves displaying a flat response in the long-wave limit. Besides quantifying the performance of wave generation, our findings offer a framework for both industrial and computational applications, opening up unexplored possibilities in hydraulics, coastal science, and engineering. In a broader context, our experimental apparatus and methods highlight the versatility of a simple yet powerful concept: a closed-path continuous-energy-pumping scheme to effectively harvest prominent resonant responses within wave-supporting systems displaying weak dissipation.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2414587122

Authors: Isis Vivanco, Alexander Egli, Bruce Cartwright, Juan F. Marín, Leonardo Gordillo

Institutions: Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Pacific Engineering (United States), University of Newcastle Australia, Newcastle University, Metropolitan University of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Nonlinear Waves and Solitons

Subfield: Statistical and Nonlinear Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Department of Education and Training, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, Australian Research Council

Awards: MULTI-POINT PROGRAMMED FORCING OF WATER BEDS WAVE GENERATION AND TSUNAMI IN-LAB EXPERIMENTS, ROGUE WAVES IN THE LAB LINEAR AND WEAKLY NONLINEAR DYNAMICS IN FORCED WATER CHANNELS, Ship response under corrosion, fatigue and complex sea-state environments, HYDROSTATICS AND HYDRODYNAMICS OF OSCILLATING FLOW DYNAMICS ON TUNABLE TOPOGRAPHY MODELS AND EXPERIMENTS TO STUDY THE INTERACTION BETWEEN FLOW AND WRINKLES INSIDE ARTERIES, G84294123