Abstract
Experimental results are reported for the selection of axial wavelengths of Taylor vortices in a system where the Reynolds number, , is "ramped" spatially from above to below the critical value, , for the onset of vortex flow. It is found that a sufficiently slow ramp connecting the supercritical region (containing vortices) to a subcritical region (of purely azimuthal flow) results in the selection of a unique wavelength. A more rapid ramp results in a small -dependent band of allowed wavelengths which grows in width as from above.
- Received 7 February 1983
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.50.1365
©1983 American Physical Society