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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Energy transfer by inertial waves during the buildup of turbulence in a rotating system
Itamar Kolvin1, Kobi Cohen, Yuval Vardi
1The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Abstract:
We study the transition from fluid at rest to turbulence in a rotating tank. The energy is transported by inertial wave packets through the fluid volume. These high amplitude waves propagate at velocities consistent with those calculated from linearized theory [H. P. Greenspan, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1968)]. A "front" in the temporal evolution of the energy power spectrum indicates a time scale for energy transport at the linear wave speed. Nonlinear energy transfer between modes is governed by a different, longer, time scale. The observed mechanisms can lead to significant differences between rotating and two-dimensional turbulent flows.
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