Title:
Mechanisms of instability in Rayleigh-Bénard convection

dc.contributor.advisor Schatz, Michael F.
dc.contributor.author Perkins, Adam Christopher en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Curtis, Jennifer
dc.contributor.committeeMember Fernandez De Las Nieves, Alberto
dc.contributor.committeeMember Goldbart, Paul
dc.contributor.committeeMember Yoda, Minami
dc.contributor.department Physics en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2012-02-17T19:18:36Z
dc.date.available 2012-02-17T19:18:36Z
dc.date.issued 2011-08-25 en_US
dc.description.abstract In many systems, instabilities can lead to time-dependent behavior, and instabilities can act as mechanisms for sustained chaos; an understanding of the dynamical modes governing instability is thus essential for prediction and/or control in such systems. In this thesis work, we have developed an approach toward characterizing instabilities quantitatively, from experiments on the prototypical Rayleigh-Bénard convection system. We developed an experimental technique for preparing a given convection pattern using rapid optical actuation of pressurized SF6, a greenhouse gas. Real-time analysis of convection patterns was developed as part of the implementation of closed-loop control of straight roll patterns. Feedback control of the patterns via actuation was used to guide patterns to various system instabilities. Controlled, spatially localized perturbations were applied to the prepared states, which were observed to excite the dominant system modes. We extracted the spatial structure and growth rates of these modes from analysis of the pattern evolutions. The lifetimes of excitations were also measured, near a particular instability; a critical wavenumber was found from the observed dynamical slowing near the bifurcation. We will also describe preliminary results of using a state estimation algorithm (LETKF) on experimentally prepared non-periodic patterns in a cylindrical convection cell. en_US
dc.description.degree PhD en_US
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/42768
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject Rayleigh-Bénard convection en_US
dc.subject Instability en_US
dc.subject Dynamical mode en_US
dc.subject LETKF en_US
dc.subject State estimation en_US
dc.subject Pattern formation en_US
dc.subject Chaos en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Rayleigh-Bénard convection
dc.subject.lcsh Chaotic behavior in systems
dc.title Mechanisms of instability in Rayleigh-Bénard convection en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Schatz, Michael F.
local.contributor.corporatename College of Sciences
local.contributor.corporatename School of Physics
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 64922a12-f49e-4b82-b20b-079643cee334
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85042be6-2d68-4e07-b384-e1f908fae48a
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 2ba39017-11f1-40f4-9bc5-66f17b8f1539
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