JAPC - Rotating shear flows: from the laboratory to astrophysics

Speaker: Prof. Michael J. Burin, Department of Physics, CSU San Marcos

Topic: "Rotating shear flows: from the laboratory to astrophysics"

Time: 2:00 PM, Friday, December 4th, 2009

Place: P-148 (refreshments will be served at 1:30 PM in P145A)

Abstract: Taylor-Couette flow features a fluid bound between concentric differentially rotating cylinders; it is one of the most celebrated experimental arrangements for the study of flow instabilities and turbulence. Though the supercritical (i.e. linearly-unstable) transition to turbulence in this system has been well-studied, the subcritical transition has received much less attention. Many questions remain about this transition and the turbulent states that result from it. To address these and related questions a large Taylor-Couette device has recently been constructed at CSU San Marcos, allowing for controlled access to turbulent regimes with either/both cylinders rotating. Such flow regimes are germane to the turbulent transport properties inferred from astrophysical accretion disks and stellar atmospheres, as well as to various turbo-machinery, and thus serve as useful analogues to less accessible fluid systems that are difficult to simulate.

Hosted by: Prof. William Welsh.

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