Nonlinear Dynamics is mainly interested
in systems that are kept far from equilibrium by maintaining an energy
influx. In the case of a fluid this is achieved by heating, pumping,
shaking, or otherwise forcing the system. When the injection rate is
small, very little happens on a macroscopic scale. As we increase the
energy input rate however, fluids have a wonderful capacity to form
patterns. The patterns usually start as simple low dimensional states
but become more complicated with forcing. Finally, at large forcing, we
usually go through a transition to fully turbulent flows.
At the CNLD, we look at three general classes of fluid
flows. The first involves flows where temperature effects
on surface tension drive the flow, such as Marangoni convection. The
second class includes flows where
rotation is important. These experiments are often models of
geophysical flows. Finally, there are other pattern
forming flows that have piqued our interest.
