Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2016 / iii / Paper 331 / 3 / a / ii / Solution

The fixed observer is the ray $V=0$. The physically selected zero-group velocity saddle defines the absolute wavenumber $k_0$ and absolute frequency ${\omega }_0$:For a smooth frequency branch with $D_{\omega }\ne 0$, the saddle condition is equivalently $D_k(k_0,{\omega }_0)=0$. The absolute growth rate isHere $k_0$ and ${\omega }_0$ can be complex. A physical saddle point is selected by the localized impulse response and deformation of its Fourier transform contour; an arbitrary algebraic stationary point need not determine absolute hydrodynamic instability.