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Axially symmetric and latitudinally propagating nonlinear patterns in rotating spherical convection

Dali Kong, Keke Zhang, Kameng Lam, and Ashley P. Willis
Phys. Rev. E 98, 031101(R) – Published 6 September 2018

Abstract

We report a nonlinear phenomenon discovered in the classical problem of thermal convection in rapidly rotating, self-gravitating, internally heated Boussinesq fluid spheres. When linear convective instability (the most unstable mode of convection) is in the form of an axially symmetric, equatorially antisymmetric torsional oscillation, its equatorial symmetry must be broken by nonlinear effects and, consequently, the key properties of the primary solution bifurcating from the instability cannot be predicted on the basis of linear solutions at the onset of convection. We reveal that, when the supercritical Rayleigh number is in the vicinity of its critical value, the primary nonlinear solution is in the form of an axially symmetric, equatorially nonsymmetric, latitudinally propagating spatiotemporal pattern whose amplitude varies periodically, representing an unusual nonlinear phenomenon of thermal convection in rotating fluid spheres.

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  • Received 9 June 2018
  • Revised 22 July 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.98.031101

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Fluid Dynamics

Authors & Affiliations

Dali Kong1, Keke Zhang2,3, Kameng Lam3, and Ashley P. Willis4

  • 1Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Shanghai 200030, China
  • 2College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QE, United Kingdom
  • 3Lunar and Planetary Science Laboratory, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau
  • 4School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 3 — September 2018

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