Laboratory observation of the "geostrophic turbulence" regime of rapidly rotating convection
The competition between turbulent convection and global rotation in planetary and stellar interiors governs the transport of heat and tracers, as well as magnetic-field generation. These objects operate in dynamical regimes ranging from weakly rotating convection to the diffusivity-free ’geostrophic turbulence’ regime of rapidly rotating convection. However, the latter regime has remained elusive in the laboratory, despite a worldwide effort to design ever-taller rotating convection cells over the last decade. Building on a recent experimental approach where convection is driven radiatively, I will report measurements in quantitative agreement with this diffusivity-free scaling regime, the experimental scaling-laws being validated against direct numerical simulations of the idealized setup.
Contact Nathanael Machicoane for more information or to schedule a discussion with the seminar speaker.