So yesterday we had the annual PG Applied Conference here at Newcastle University. It was great to get the chance to see what everybody else is researching and present my own work.
I gave a talk on Localized States in Rotating Convecti0n at Low Prandtl Number which can be found below.
Basically, we numerically simulate 2D rotating convection in a Boussinesq fluid looking at how rotation affects the presence of spatially localized convective states at low Prandtl numbers relevant to planetary cores. Such localized states may explain why some planets such as Mercury have weak magnetic fields. We find both steady (time-independent) and oscillatory (time-dependent) localized states where convection is suppressed in regions of cyclonic vorticity and have an effective Taylor number which is below the onset at which convection occurs. Where convection does occur we see that the vorticity is anticyclonic and this region is effectively non-rotational. Like in magnetoconvection where magnetic fields inhibit convection, we see here that rotation is able to inhibit convection. We also find localized convective states that extend into the subcritical regime (convection at values where it should be suppressed) and hence rotation is able to aid convective motions in the subcritical regime. This may be relevant to the Martian dynamo since subcritical dynamo action is a possible explanation for its termination.
Localization in the temperature in 2D rotating convection at low Prandtl number.