Homology and symmetry breaking in Rayleigh-Bénard convection: Experiments and simulations

Algebraic topology (homology) is used to analyze the state of spiral defect chaos in both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations of Rayleigh-Bénard convection. The analysis reveals topological asymmetries that arise when non-Boussinesq effects are present. The asymmetries are found in diff...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of fluids (1994) 2007-11, Vol.19 (11), p.117105-117105-6
Main Authors: Krishan, Kapilanjan, Kurtuldu, Huseyin, Schatz, Michael F., Gameiro, Marcio, Mischaikow, Konstantin, Madruga, Santiago
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buoyancy-driven instability
Chaos
Exact sciences and technology
Fluid dynamics
Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications)
Hydrodynamic stability
Physics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Algebraic topology (homology) is used to analyze the state of spiral defect chaos in both laboratory experiments and numerical simulations of Rayleigh-Bénard convection. The analysis reveals topological asymmetries that arise when non-Boussinesq effects are present. The asymmetries are found in different flow fields in the simulations and are robust to substantial alterations to flow visualization conditions in the experiment. However, the asymmetries are not observable using conventional statistical measures. These results suggest homology may provide a new and general approach for connecting spatiotemporal observations of chaotic or turbulent patterns to theoretical models.
ISSN:1070-6631
1089-7666
DOI:10.1063/1.2800365