Küppers–Lortz instability

For an existing convection roll of intensity $r/g_0$, the amplitude of a new orientation at relative angle $\vartheta$ grows at rate $r[1-g(\vartheta )/g_0]$. Rotation permits $g(\vartheta )\ne g(-\vartheta )$. If one oblique orientation has $g(\vartheta )<g_0$, the convection roll is unstable immediately above a supercritical stationary threshold. This is the Küppers–Lortz mechanism. Successive orientation replacements can produce time-dependent convection roll switching; a universal attractor does not follow from the two-mode calculation. The perturbing orientation requires three-dimensional disturbances even if the initial convection roll is two-dimensional.