Robert Ecke - Tales of Rotating Thermal Convection - IPAM at UCLA

Recorded 27 January 2025. Robert Ecke of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Center for Nonlinear Studies presents "Tales of Rotating Thermal Convection" at IPAM's Rotating Turbulence: Interplay and Separability of Bulk and Boundary Dynamics Workshop.
Abstract: How rapid rotation drives heat transport, creates novel vortex structures, and relates laboratory experiments to fluid motions on the Earth. Gravity is the dominant large-scale force in the universe and the reaction of fluids to gravity is either unstable - hot air rises, cold air falls - or stable - heavy fluid stays below lighter fluid. When stable, waves are typical - waves on the ocean surface - whereas unstable states lead to convection where lighter and heavier fluid interchange creating motion that carries heat. On Earth and on planets in the solar system as well as in many stars, rotation plays a key role in shaping the flow and controlling the transport of heat. The Earth’s jet stream results from this interplay as does the motion of ocean currents. To understand the basic principles of rotating convection, scientists have built model systems that can be studied in great detail using experiments, numerical simulations, and theory. I’ll tell you some of the fascinating ideas that shape this work and how they relate to understanding rotating flows in nature.
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