Nonlinear evolution of a continuous spectrum of unstable waves near the first bifurcation point in circular Couette flow has been investigated. The disturbance is represented by a Fourier integral over all possible axial wavenumbers, and an integrodifferential equation for the amplitude-density function of a continuous spectrum is derived. The equations describing the evolution of monochromatic waves and slowly-varying wave-packets of classical weakly nonlinear instability theories are shown to be special limiting cases. Numerical integration of the integrodifferential equation shows that the final equilibrium state depends on the initial disturbance, as observed experimentally, and it is not unique. In all cases, the final equilibrium state consists of a single dominant mode and its superharmonics of smaller-amplitudes. The predicted range of wavenumbers for stable supercritical Taylor vortices is found to be narrower than the span of the neutral curve from linear theory. Taylor-vortex flows with wavenumbers outside this range are found to be unstable and to decay, but to excite another wave inside the narrow band. This result is in agreement with the Eckhaus and Benjamin-Feir sideband instability. The results also show that a linearly stable long wave can excite a short unstable wave through nonlinear wave-interaction. An important implication of the existence of nonunique equilibrium states is that the torque induced by the fluid motion cannot be determined uniquely. The numerical results show that the uncertainty, associated with nonuniqueness, of

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The nonlinear evolution of a continuous spectrum of travelling waves resulting from the growth of unstable disturbances in circular Couette flow has been investigated. Numerical solution of the governing integro-differential equations for different initial conditions shows that the equilibrium states of Taylor-vortex, wavy-vortex or spiralvortex flows are not unique, but depend on the initial disturbance. The presence of multiple solutions at a fixed Reynolds number for a given Taylor–Couette geometry has been known since Coles’ seminal contribution in 1965. The current study indicates that the equilibrium state of flows on a stable bifurcation branch is a natural consequence of nonlinear wave resonance and is dependent on the initial conditions. The resulting wavenumber can take any value within an accessible finite band. Since such multiple solutions have also been found numerically for mixed-convection flows and experimentally for several other flows, there is evidence to support the conclusion that a non-uniqueness in the sense of Coles is a generic property for all fluid flows.

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