title: Periodic boundary motion in thermal turbulence
abstract: A free-floating plate is introduced in a Benard convection cell with an open surface. It partially covers the cell and distorts the local heat flux, inducing a coherent flow that in turn moves the plate. Remarkably, the plate can be driven to a periodic motion even under the action of a turbulent fluid. The period of the oscillation depends on the coverage ratio, and on the Rayleigh number of the convective system. The plate oscillatory behavior observed in this experiment may be related to a geological model, in which continents drift in a quasiperiodic fashion.
authors.affiliation: Center for studies in Physics and Biology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021 and Applied Mathematics Laboratory, Courant Institute, New York University, New York, New York 10012, USA.
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Libchaber