Mathematical Tripos Part II Prof. C. P.

Caulfield
WAVES Lent 2025

Example Sheet 3: Dispersive Waves and Ray Theory

1. Finite-depth capillary–gravity waves. The dispersion relation for water waves of wavenumber
k, including the effects of surface tension, is

ω 2 = k(g + T k 2 /ρ) tanh kh .

Show that for sufficiently large k the group and phase velocities cg and c become proportional
to k 1/2 and independent of g and h, and that cg ∼ 32 c. What is ‘sufficiently large’ ?
In ripple-tank experiments it is desired to keep cg and c as constant as possible for smallish
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values of kh. By expanding ω 2 about k = 0, determine approximately what value of h, h0 say,

should be used. *Show also that for h > h0 there must exist a minimum value of the group
velocity at some finite non-zero value of k.

Comment: For water, a typical value of T /ρg would be 7.5 mm2 , so that h0 = 4.7 mm.

2. Stationary phase. (Tripos 77126). A hypothetical physical system permits one-dimensional

wave propagation in the x-direction according to the equation

∂ψ ∂3ψ
−β 3 =0 (β > 0, constant) . (∗)
∂t ∂x

Write down the corresponding dispersion relation and sketch graphs of frequency, phase veloc-
ity and group velocity as functions of wave number. Determine whether the shortest or the
longest waves are found at the front of a dispersing wave packet arising from a localised initial
disturbance. Do the wave crests move faster or slower than the wave packet as a whole?
Assume that ψ is real. An initial disturbance is given in the form of a Fourier integral,
Z ∞
ψ(x, 0) = A(k)eikx dk .
−∞

Write down the corresponding solution ψ(x, t) of (∗). Use the method of stationary phase to
obtain an approximation to this solution for large t with V = x/t held constant, where V > 0.
What can you say about ψ in the same large-time limit if (i) V < 0 *(ii) V = 0?

3. Stationary phase. Find a combination of gravity waves (neglecting surface tension) on deep
water travelling in the directions x increasing and x decreasing that satisfies the conditions

ζ = ζ0 cos kx, ∂ζ/∂t = 0 ,

at time t = 0, where ζ is the upward displacement of the free surface at z = 0.

In a deep and very long channel parallel to the x-axis, the water surface is distorted by the
action of air jets into a shape
2
ζ = −ζ0 e−(x/a) ,

independent of y, and then released from rest at time t = 0. Obtain the subsequent shape of
the free surface as a sum of two Fourier integrals. Use the method of stationary phase to obtain
their approximate value when x and t are both large and positive.

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 4. The steady wave pattern generated by a duck swimming on a (pseudo-)fluid. Consider
a duck swimming steadily with velocity (U, 0) on a deep homogeneous ‘pseudo-fluid’. In the
duck’s frame, the dispersion relation is found to be
Ω(k) = λ|k|p − U k1 , k = (k1 , k2 )
where λ and p are constants, and 0 < p < 1. (For a ‘real’ fluid p = 21 and λ = g 1/2 .) The duck
generates a steady wave pattern. By writing (k1 , k2 ) = |k|(cos β, sin β), show that the waves
satisfy
 1/(1−p)
λ
|k| = ,
U cos β
and that the group velocity of these waves can be expressed as
cg = U (p cos2 β − 1, p sin β cos β) .
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Deduce that the waves occupy a wedge of semi-angle sin−1 [p/(2 − p)] about the negative x1 -
axis. Find equation(s) describing the wave crests. *Sketch, or plot numerically, the wave-crest
pattern for the case p = 23 .

5. Trapped internal gravity waves. Two semi-infinite layers of fluid with uniform densities
ρ0 −∆ρ and ρ0 +∆ρ are separated by a layer of fluid in −H 6 z 6 H, where ρ(z) = ρ0 −(z/H)∆ρ
and ∆ρ ≪ ρ0 . Write down the equation governing the vertical velocity of small-amplitude waves
and use it to explain why w and ∂w/∂z should be expected to be continuous at z = ±H.
Show that the dispersion relation for waves trapped by the stratification can be written
 2 1/2 " 1/2 #
N N2
−1 tan −1 kH = 1 (∗)
ω2 ω2
under the assumption that w is an even function of z (where N 2 is the middle-layer value).
Comment on the form of (∗) in the double limit N → ∞, H → 0 with N 2 H held constant.

6. Rays in a slowly varying medium. Derive the ray-tracing equations for wave propagation
through a slowly varying medium. (i) Show that for a time-independent medium the frequency
ω is constant at a ‘ray point’ moving with the group velocity. (ii) If the properties of the medium
are also independent of x and y, deduce Snell’s law that along a ray
sin α ∝ c ,
where α is the angle between the wavenumber k and the z-axis, and c(k) is the local phase
speed. (iii) For what type of dispersion relation is the direction of the ray parallel to k?
Consider the dispersion relation ω = A|k|z, where A is a constant. Show that each ray
is the arc of a circle. Show also that a wave packet moving towards the plane z = 0 takes an
infinite time to reach it.

7. Reflection and absorption of internal gravity waves. Two-dimensional internal gravity waves
on a slowly varying shear flow in the atmosphere satisfy the dispersion relation
Nk
ω = γzk + 2 ,
(k + m2 )1/2
where γ and N are positive constants, and k = (k, 0, m). Show that, as a wave packet moves,
ω and k remain constant, while
m(t) = m0 − γkt ,
where m0 is a constant. If k, m0 > 0, find the vertical motion z(t) of a wave packet generated
at the origin. By considering the values of dx/dt (and m) near
 
N 1 1 N
z = 0 (twice), z = − − 2 2
and z = ,
γ k (k + m0 ) 1/2 γ(k + m20 )1/2
2

or otherwise, sketch the ray path *and the orientation of the crests at points along the path.

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 8. Wave breaking. (Old Tripos) Ocean surface waves propagate obliquely from x = ∞ towards
a straight beach at x = 0 where they break and are dissipated. The water depth h(x) is a
slowly varying, increasing function of x, with h(0) = 0 and h(x) → ∞ as x → ∞, and the waves
approximately satisfy the local dispersion relation
Ω2 = gκ tanh κh ,
where κ2 = k12 + k22 for the surface wavenumber (k1 , k2 ). Show that the shorewards component
of the wavenumber increases in magnitude, with k1 ∼ −ω[gh(x)]−1/2 as x → 0.
∗
The amplitude A of the waves varies in such a way that the shorewards energy flux,
proportional to cg1 A2 , is constant. Show that if the waves break in a region where κh ≪ 1 and
when the maximum wave slope Aκ reaches a critical value Sc , then the point xb at which they
break is given by
−k1 (∞) ωg
A2 (∞) = 2Sc2 .
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κ(∞) [gh(xb )]3/2

9.* The wave-crest pattern near a shore line. (Tripos 87327) Surface waves on water have a
dispersion relation ω = Ω(κ; x, y) where κ2 = k12 + k22 , (x, y) are coordinates in the plane of the
surface, and the medium is slowly varying in the (x, y) coordinates.
Use the ray-tracing equations to show that ω is constant on rays, dy/dx = k2 /k1 . Show
also that the wave crests at any instant are given by dy/dx = −k1 /k2 .
The wave motion takes place over a sloping beach so that the unperturbed water depth
h(x) = αx1/2 , with α a small positive constant. The dispersion relation for such waves is given
by
Ω2 = gκ tanh κh.
Far from the shore-line x = 0, the waves are plane, have frequency ω, and have angle Φ between
the crests and the shore-line. As the waves propagate towards the shore they become non-planar.
Obtain the parametric equations
λ2 g 2
x = 2 4 tanh2 λ ,
α ω
g2 λ
(1 − tanh2 ξ sin2 Φ)1/2 d 2
Z
y − y0 = 2 4 (ξ tanh2 ξ) dξ ,
α ω 0 tanh ξ sin Φ dξ
for the wave crest that passes through the shore-line at y = y0 . [Hint: consider λ = κh.] Show
that near the shore-line the equation of the wave crest can be written
 4 2
4 4 g
(y − y0 ) ≈ x3 .
3 sin Φ α2 ω 4