Wall Modes in Rotating Convection - Current Understanding and Challenges

Explore a 50-minute lecture from Los Alamos National Laboratory's Robert Ecke at IPAM's Rotating Turbulence Workshop, examining the complex dynamics of traveling wall modes in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection. Delve into direct numerical experiments that reveal key features of wall modes in cylindrical containers with varying sidewall boundary conditions, from perfectly insulating acrylic walls used in water experiments to perfectly conducting stainless steel walls in cryogenic helium studies. Discover the fascinating interplay between wall modes and bulk modes, including jet-like emissions and the nucleation of bulk-like features. Gain insights into the current understanding of wall mode states, their impact on bulk onset, and their contribution to heat transport in rapidly rotating convection systems, building upon 25 years of research in this specialized field of fluid dynamics.