On the spectrum of Euler-Lagrange operator in the stability analysis of
Benard problem
Abstract
In studying the stability of B\’{e}nard problem we
usually have to solve a variational problem to determine the critical
Rayleigh number for linear or nonlinear stability. To solve the
variational problem one usually transform it to an eigenvalue problem
which is called Euler-Lagrange equations. An operator related to the
Euler-Lagrange equations is usually referred to as Euler-Lagrange
operator whose spectrum is investigated in this paper. We have shown
that the operator possesses only the point spectrum consisting of real
number, which forms a countable set. Moreover, it is found that the
spectrum of the Euler-Lagrange operator depends on the thickness of the
fluid layer.