Speaker:

Jun Zhang, New York University

Title:

Free-moving boundaries interacting with thermal convective fluids

Abstract:

Thermal convection has come to be regarded as one of the most important
prototypical systems of dynamical systems. It has been extensively studied
over the past 3 decades or so. An experimental system often consists of a
fluid confined within a rigid box that is heated at the bottom and cooled 
at the top.

Our experimental studies explore the intriguing phenomena when its rigid
boundary is partly replaced either by a freely moving, thermally opaque
(which reduces local heat transport) "floater" or by a collection of 
free-rolling spheres (a deformable mass). We identify from our table-top 
experiments several dynamical states, ranging from oscillation to 
localization to intermittency. A phenomenological, low-dimensional model 
seems to reproduce most of the experimental results. Through our on-going 
experiments, we further seek their possible implications in geophysical 
processes such as continental drift.