Comment on "transition to turbulence in a shear flow".
In this Comment two main issues are addressed that are pertinent to the interpretation of the transition to turbulence for shear type flows on the basis of transient chaos: the fractal character associated with this transition and the precision needed for a reliable numerical modeling. The analysis is based on a simplified model of 19 degrees of freedom for Couette flow, proposed some years ago by Eckhardt and Mersmann. We conclude that the landscape of lifetimes cannot be fractal, and that a very high numerical accuracy is needed to obtain sound results.
Basombrío
Fernando G
FG
Instituto Balseiro, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo--CNEA, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina. fgb2@cab.cnea.gov.ar
Campo
Gabriel
G