= Small-angle instability of rotating convection rolls
For finite <Prandtl number> and stress-free boundaries, nearly parallel <convection rolls> can interact with a weakly damped large-scale <Eulerian mean flow>. The ordinary regular two-roll amplitude expansion becomes nonuniform as the angle tends to zero, so the mean-flow mode must be retained. This mechanism is not automatically the finite-angle <Küppers–Lortz instability>, and thresholds depend on the stated boundary and parameter regime.
Back to article page
