Symmetry Breaking Bifurcations and the Growth of Chaos in a Rotating Fluid
Abstract
Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations on flow between concentric independently rotating cylinders (the Couette-Taylor system) reveal a primary bifurcation to a new state, ribbons, which are traveling waves in the azimuthal direction but standing waves in the axial direction. Other experiments, conducted on a rigid rapidly rotating annulus, are designed to explore parameter regimes characteristic of planetary scale flows. Eastward jets are found to exhibit Rossby waves for a wide range of control parameters, and these jets (or, more precisely, the potential vorticity gradients in the core of the jets) act as a strong barrier to tracer transport: these observations have important implication for the transport of pollutants in oceans and the atmosphere. The behavior of westward jets is found to be markedly different from that of eastward jets: persistent vortices (like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter) are found to form spontaneously in a turbulent shear flow formed by westward jets.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 10, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA204010
Entities
People
- Harry L. Swinney
Organizations
- University of Texas at Austin