title: Instability and equilibration of centrifugally stable stratified Taylor-Couette flow.
abstract: The flow between two concentric cylinders, V(r), is studied analytically and computationally for a fluid with stable axial density stratification. A sufficient condition for linear, inviscid instability is d(V/r)(2)/dr<0 (i.e., all anticyclonically sheared flows) rather than the Rayleigh condition for centrifugal instability, d(Vr)(2)/dr<0. This implies a far wider range of instability than previously identified. The instability persists with finite viscosity and nonlinearity, leading to chaos and fully developed turbulence through a sequence of bifurcations. Laboratory tests are feasible and desirable.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Molemaker
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McWilliams
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yavneh