The transition to finite-amplitude traveling-wave convection in binary fluid mixtures.
01 January 1987
Convection in binary fluid mixtures with negative separation ratio begins with a linear instability to an oscillatory state of flow. At fixed Rayleigh number, this instability grows exponentially with time, triggering a finite-amplitude, traveling wave state. This paper discusses this transition, which takes place via a striking collapse of the region of flow within the experimental convection cell.