Convective overstability growth rate 2026-10-05
For , this leading amplitude-growth rate is largest at thermal diffusion rate of a Fourier mode , giving when .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 321 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
For an axisymmetric vertical mode of a shearing sheet in this Boussinesq approximation, the perturbations have no horizontal gradients, so background-shear advection vanishes. The linear Coriolis acceleration and perturbation advection of the background shear givewhile thermal conduction and incompressibility giveHere is the thermal diffusion rate of a Fourier mode, not the cooling exponent in Question 2. Since , incompressibility forces , and the vertical momentum equation then forces for this nonzero-wavenumber amplitude.
The three remaining amplitudes satisfyA nontrivial solution requires the determinant to vanish, giving the convective overstability dispersion relationNo division by or was needed, so the thermal energy mode of a shearing sheet is retained. The notation denotes a signed buoyancy frequency squared and can be negative for an adverse stratification; it must not be restricted to the square of a real positive frequency.