Thermal convection in differentially rotating systems

The onset of convection in a cylindrical fluid annulus is analyzed in the case when the cylindrical walls are rotating differentially, a temperature gradient in the radial direction is applied, and the centrifugal force dominates over gravity. The small gap approximation is used and no-slip conditions on the cylindrical walls are assumed. It is found that over a considerable range of the parameter space either convection rolls aligned with the axis of rotation or rolls in the perpendicular (azimuthal) direction are preferred. It is shown that by a suitable redefinition of parameters, results for finite amplitude Taylor vortices and for convection rolls in the presence of shear can be applied to the present problem. Weakly nonlinear results for transverse rolls in a Couette flow indicate the possibility of subcritical bifurcation for Prandtl numbers P less than 0.82. Heat and momentum transports are derived as functions of P and the problem of interaction between transverse and longitudinal rolls is considered. The relevance of the analysis for problems of convection in planetary and stellar atmospheres is briefly discussed.