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Publications

Lagrangian Flow Network approach to an open flow model

Ser-Giacomi, E.; Rodriguez-Mendez, V.; Lopez, C.; Hernandez-Garcia, E.
European Physical Journal - Special Topics 226, 2057-2068 (2017)

Concepts and tools from network theory, the so-called Lagrangian Flow Network framework, have been successfully used to obtain a coarse-grained description of transport by closed fluid flows. Here we explore the application of this methodology to open chaotic flows, and check it with numerical results for a model open flow, namely a jet with a localized wave perturbation. We find that network nodes with high values of out-degree and of finite-time entropy in the forward-in-time direction identify the location of the chaotic saddle and its stable manifold, whereas nodes with high in-degree and backwards finite-time entropy highlight the location of the saddle and its unstable manifold. The cyclic clustering coefficient, associated to the presence of periodic orbits, takes non-vanishing values at the location of the saddle itself.