Professor Oliver Bühler - Out of one, many: creating broadband spectra of oceanic internal waves AbstractInternal gravity waves, which owe their existence to a combination of stratification and the Earth’s rotation, are known to contribute significantly to vertical mixing and the functioning of the global ocean circulation, yet they are far too small and too fast to be resolvable in climate models. This means we rely on theory and simple parameterizations to model their impact on the resolved flow in these models. A persistent theory challenge has been to explain observed broadband wave spectra even though the dominant internal wave sources are known to be nearly monochromatic. Nonlinear processes such as wave--wave or wave—current interactions are therefore essential to explain the observations. In particular, wave turbulence theory based on resonant wave--wave interactions has long been a candidate for this problem, but the practical problems of applying this theory to a non-isotropic, non-canonical fluid dynamics system have been immense. In this talk, I will introduce these issues and then discuss recent advances in wave turbulence theory that greatly simplified its application to internal waves and led to predicted wave spectra that are arguably much closer to the observations than indicated by previous work.BiographyOliver Bühler is a Professor of Mathematics and Atmosphere Ocean Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, which is part of New York University. He received an undergraduate degree in Physical Engineering Science from the Technical University in Berlin (Germany) and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He obtained a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge (England), working on problems in stratospheric fluid dynamics under the supervision of Michael E. McIntyre. After a few years of lecturing at the University of St Andrews, he moved to New York in 2002. His research focus is on theoretical fluid dynamics applied to atmosphere ocean science and the development of asymptotic and stochastic methods. Or, as ChatGPT thinks: "Oliver Bühler is a distinguished figure in applied mathematics, with a particular focus on the mathematical aspects of geophysical fluid dynamics. His research has provided deeper insights into the behavior of fluids in natural systems, impacting both theoretical understanding and practical applications in meteorology and oceanography.” Nov 21 2024 15.00 - 16.00 Professor Oliver Bühler - Out of one, many: creating broadband spectra of oceanic internal waves Edinburgh Fluid Dynamics Group welcomes Professor Oliver Bühler in a series of colloquia co-funded by the Schools of Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy. G.27 Lecture Theatre 1, Daniel Rutherford Building, King's Buildings This article was published on Wednesday 2 September 2026
Professor Oliver Bühler - Out of one, many: creating broadband spectra of oceanic internal waves AbstractInternal gravity waves, which owe their existence to a combination of stratification and the Earth’s rotation, are known to contribute significantly to vertical mixing and the functioning of the global ocean circulation, yet they are far too small and too fast to be resolvable in climate models. This means we rely on theory and simple parameterizations to model their impact on the resolved flow in these models. A persistent theory challenge has been to explain observed broadband wave spectra even though the dominant internal wave sources are known to be nearly monochromatic. Nonlinear processes such as wave--wave or wave—current interactions are therefore essential to explain the observations. In particular, wave turbulence theory based on resonant wave--wave interactions has long been a candidate for this problem, but the practical problems of applying this theory to a non-isotropic, non-canonical fluid dynamics system have been immense. In this talk, I will introduce these issues and then discuss recent advances in wave turbulence theory that greatly simplified its application to internal waves and led to predicted wave spectra that are arguably much closer to the observations than indicated by previous work.BiographyOliver Bühler is a Professor of Mathematics and Atmosphere Ocean Science at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, which is part of New York University. He received an undergraduate degree in Physical Engineering Science from the Technical University in Berlin (Germany) and a Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. He obtained a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Cambridge (England), working on problems in stratospheric fluid dynamics under the supervision of Michael E. McIntyre. After a few years of lecturing at the University of St Andrews, he moved to New York in 2002. His research focus is on theoretical fluid dynamics applied to atmosphere ocean science and the development of asymptotic and stochastic methods. Or, as ChatGPT thinks: "Oliver Bühler is a distinguished figure in applied mathematics, with a particular focus on the mathematical aspects of geophysical fluid dynamics. His research has provided deeper insights into the behavior of fluids in natural systems, impacting both theoretical understanding and practical applications in meteorology and oceanography.” Nov 21 2024 15.00 - 16.00 Professor Oliver Bühler - Out of one, many: creating broadband spectra of oceanic internal waves Edinburgh Fluid Dynamics Group welcomes Professor Oliver Bühler in a series of colloquia co-funded by the Schools of Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy. G.27 Lecture Theatre 1, Daniel Rutherford Building, King's Buildings This article was published on Wednesday 2 September 2026
Nov 21 2024 15.00 - 16.00 Professor Oliver Bühler - Out of one, many: creating broadband spectra of oceanic internal waves Edinburgh Fluid Dynamics Group welcomes Professor Oliver Bühler in a series of colloquia co-funded by the Schools of Engineering, Mathematics, and Physics and Astronomy.
