And Hypersonic Flight

smaller, this smaller wave intersects the larger andpasses above it, but if the smaller starts higher in theriver than the greater, then this greater follows thenatural course and the smaller follows the course ofthe greater.When two cylindrical waves of equal size and powerclash absolutely, they each turn back completely withoutany penetration one of another (Institut de FranceMs.92r,v).This is the same as in the formation of vortex rings ofsmoke, which, if they clash in the air, will tend to bounceback and enter into a vibratory motion like particles of matter.This led Kelvin and Helmholtz to the hypothesis ofatom-vortices. The idea was wrong only in so far as they putit explicitly in a Newtonian context, thus negating the possibilityof creation or destruction of such vortex-particles.If Leonardo had studied only the formation and behaviorof such "columnar vortices," it would have been enough toput his work in the center of the scientific debate in fluiddynamics. There is not the slightest serious comprehensiontoday of the behavior of such intense vortex structures;moreover, experiments that tend to focus on this are suppressed.Intense vortices have a very specific behavior that cannotFigure 23THREE-DIMENSIONAL VORTICESON A WATER SURFACELeonardo discovered three-dimensional vortex filamentsin water, not inside the water but as a specifictransformation of water waves at very high speed.Source: Institut de France Ms. F 90-93.Figure 25HIGH-SPEED CYLINDRICAL WAVES ON WATERCylindrical waves on a water surface have many propertiesof waves in air and electromagnetic waves. Athigh enough speed, they pile up to form "strong shockwaves" or small hydraulic jumps, and will no longerexhibit interference.Source: Institut de France Ms. F 92.32 January-February 1986 FUSION