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Study of spiral pattern formation in Rayleigh-Benard convection

Hao-wen Xi, J. D. Gunton, Jorge Vinals

cond-matarXiv:cond-mat/9209010

Abstract

We present a numerical study of a generalized two-dimensional Swift-Hohenberg model of spiral pattern formation in Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a non-Boussinesq fluid. We demonstrate for the first time that a model for convective motion is able to predict in considerable dynamical detail the spontaneous formation of a rotating spiral state from an ordered hexagon state. Our results are in good agreement with recent experimental studies of CO2 gas. The mean flow and non-Boussinesq effects are shown to be crucial in forming rotating spirals.

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