Coherent Transport of Angular Momentum - The Ranque-Hilsch Tube as a Paradigm

Abstract

The mechanism for efficient and coherent angular momentum transport remains one of the unsolved puzzles in astrophysics despite the enormous efforts that have been made. We suggest that important new insight could be gained in this problem through an experimental and theoretical study of a laboratory device (Ranque-Hilsch tube) that displays a similar enhanced angular momentum transfer which cannot be explained by a simple turbulent model. There is already good experimental evidence to suggest that the cause of this enhancement is the formation of aligned vortices that swirl around the symmetry axes very much like virtual paddle blades.