Space-Time folding of the wake produced by a super-velocity rotating point source
Résumé
Wave sources moving faster than the waves they emit create a wake whose topological features are directly related to the geometry of the source trajectory. These features can be understood by considering space-time surfaces representing past emitted wavefronts. Specifically, for a super-velocity source moving along a circular path the space-time envelope folds and a cusp appears on the inner part of the wake. As a result, the wake is ultimately contained within two parallel co-rotating spiraling branches. In this letter we take advantage of the low phase velocity of water waves to study experimentally super-velocity sources moving at velocities up to several time the wave speed. We image in real-time their emission patterns and characterize the topological features of their wakes.
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