Abstract
The initial perturbation with the largest transient energy growth is computed in the context of the swept leading-edge boundary layer. The highest energy amplification is found for perturbations which are homogeneous in the spanwise z-direction, although on shorter time scales the most amplified disturbances have a finite spanwise wavenumber. In both cases the production term associated with the shear of the spanwise velocity is responsible for the energy amplification in the perturbation energy equation. A connection is made with the amplification mechanism exhibited by optimal perturbations in streaky boundary layers (Hoepffner et al. J. Fluid Mech. vol. 537, 2005, p.91) and the results are compared to the optimal Görtler–Hämmerlin disturbances computed by Guégan et al. (J. Fluid Mech. vol. 566, 2006, p. 11).