The vibrating ribbon problem revisited

A revised formal solution of the vibrating ribbon problem of hydrodynamic stability is presented. The initial formulation of Gaster (1965) is modified by application of the Briggs method and a careful treatment of the complex double Fourier transform inversions. Expressions are obtained in a natural way for the discrete spectrum as well as for the four branches of the continuous spectra. These correspond to discrete and branch-cut singularities in the complex wavenumber plane. The solutions from the continuous spectra decay both upsteam and downstream of the ribbon, with the decay in the upstream direction being much more rapid than that in the downstream direction. Comments and clarification of related prior work are made.