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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Multiplicity of steady states in cylindrical Rayleigh-Bénard convection
Dong-Jun Ma1, De-Jun Sun, Xie-Yuan Yin
1School of Engineering Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China.
Abstract:
Three-dimensional steady Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a vertical cylinder is investigated by numerical simulation and bifurcation analysis. The complex pattern formation beyond the onset of the convection is presented by a bifurcation diagram. The coexistence of multiple stable states is observed near the threshold of the first bifurcation and two group symmetries are summarized for the corresponding primary branches. The first stable target pattern originates through a subcritical bifurcation. A multiplicity of flow states for the Rayleigh number of 14200 is validated numerically in comparison with the experiment, and a four-spoke pattern is observed.
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