{"record":{"author":{"account_ref":null,"orcid":null},"builds_on":[],"content_schema":"pubphys.content.revision/1","content_sha256":"467d45d213bc509f43dfec4a29e7bd17b9f51c2c686f7e26eebaa03c287c745e","created":"2026-10-03T07:18:04Z","files":[],"origin":{"assisted_by":[],"kind":"seed"},"parents":["5475cf5dc5b1a72283d26dc95dc6e00d7ea4e00096a7c6492e409a1816eeb011"],"salt":"349cb0e24a1049d63fcbd29c5fb6d40b22bcb48a91ff0286c990a3a349fe12a7","schema":"pubphys.record/2","site":"pubphys.com","target":null,"type":"revision"},"content":{"answer_type":"mechanism","assisted_by":[],"external_id":"fluid.strat-rot.internal-wave-spectrum","kind":"phenomenon","literature_status":"partially-resolved","n":"1","parents":[],"plain":"The ocean interior is filled with internal waves, waves that travel inside a fluid layered by density, whose energy follows nearly the same frequency spectrum everywhere. Whether this universal shape is a steady state of wave-wave interactions moving energy to small scales is open, although the energy flow these interactions predict now matches observed ocean mixing.","posed_since":"1972","precise":"Wave turbulence of weakly nonlinear internal gravity waves in a rotating stratified fluid, with the deep ocean as application. The Garrett-Munk spectrum has $E(\\omega) \\sim \\omega^{-2}$ for $f << \\omega << N$ ($f$ Coriolis frequency, $N$ buoyancy frequency) and a vertical-wavenumber spectrum $\\sim m^{-2}$ above a roll-off. Determine whether it is a stationary constant-flux solution of the internal-wave kinetic equation with a convergent collision integral and dominantly local interactions, and whether the implied downscale energy flux matches dissipation rates of order $10^{-6}\\ \\text{to}\\ 10^{-5}\\ \\mathrm{cm}^{2}/\\mathrm{s}^{3}$.","problem_ref":null,"references":"","settled_by":"A kinetic-equation solution with demonstrated convergence reproducing the spectral shape, together with an energy flux consistent with microstructure measurements.","status_note":"Dematteis et al. (Nature Communications 2024) find that downscale fluxes from wave-wave interaction theory match observed interior mixing patterns globally; whether Garrett-Munk itself is a stationary constant-flux solution with local, convergent interactions is still disputed.","title":"Is the oceanic internal-wave spectrum a wave-turbulence steady state?","topic_ref":"10bf729b197d5ee7bbcb1c2f468901326f7231ccc5c3ae2967db2e962f472a39"},"attested":{"attestation":{"batch":null,"client_id":null,"id_token_sha256":null,"kind":"platform"},"record_hash":"301691fdb0853cd73679403f3f9ef0892950089c6b08177da1a3423578a6317f","schema":"pubphys.attested/1"},"envelope":{"attested_hash":"641243a140f976a65dcff1f0d33608412bc7107439a4364a8f743e7c4029c31c","platform_signature":{"key_id":"c6afc19b31429869751f06879c75cd64ea92654423d15b44be775bf1310a60da","sig":"je4QfhuLttqKALtYeLxcbOPPfokY18Iz86-RESkwivlkeRdJQouvxImgRQGWDdS8xuXuOrCBij5xdiHSlZ_wBA"},"schema":"pubphys.envelope/1"},"record_hash":"301691fdb0853cd73679403f3f9ef0892950089c6b08177da1a3423578a6317f","leaf_index":1440}