Bifurcation Analysis for Surface Waves Generated by Wind

Abstract

We study the generation of surface waves on water as a bifurcation phenomenon. For a critical wind-speed there appear traveling wave solutions. While linear waves do not transport mass (in the mean), nonlinear effects create a shear-flow and result in a net mass transport in the direction of the wind. We derive an asymptotic formula for the average tangential velocity along the free surface. Numerical investigations confirm the appearance of the shear-flow and yield results on the bifurcation picture.