Exact dispersion relation for linear surface waves on arbitrary vertical shear

TL;DR

This paper derives an exact, implicit dispersion relation for linear surface waves on arbitrary vertical shear currents, providing a comprehensive framework that encompasses known solutions and facilitates systematic approximations.

Contribution

It introduces a Green's function-based formal solution for the dispersion relation on arbitrary shear profiles, unifying and extending previous results.

Findings

Reduces to Shrira's deep-water expression in the appropriate limit

Recovers known asymptotic and analytical solutions

Provides a basis for systematic approximations of wave behavior

Abstract

We derive the formal solution to the dispersion relation for linear surface waves on a horizontal mean current with arbitrary vertical dependence. The problem is cast in a Green's function framework for the Rayleigh equation, neglecting viscosity but making no further approximations about the mean velocity profile. The solution is the dispersion relation in the form of a single, implicit equation relating -- and containing only -- the velocity profile, wave frequency, and wavenumber. By isolating curvature effects in a path-ordered exponential, we obtain a solution that serves as a natural starting point for systematic approximations. We demonstrate that our solution reduces to the expression found by Shrira (1993, J. Fluid Mech. 252, 565--584) in the deep-water limit, yields known asymptotic approximations, and recovers known analytical solutions in special cases.