Heat transport in rotating convection without Ekman layers

TL;DR

This paper investigates heat transport in rotating convection without Ekman layers, revealing three distinct flow regimes and their scaling behaviors through numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces a classification of convective flows based on a combined Reynolds, Prandtl, and Ekman number parameter, identifying three flow regimes and their heat transport characteristics.

Findings

Identification of three flow regimes: laminar, turbulent, and intermediate.

Heat flow approaches non-rotating convection in turbulent regime.

Intermediate regime exhibits unique power-law scaling independent of diffusivities.

Abstract

Numerical simulation of rotating convection in plane layers with free slip boundaries show that the convective flows can be classified according to a quantity constructed from the Reynolds, Prandtl and Ekman numbers. Three different flow regimes appear: Laminar flow close to the onset of convection, turbulent flow in which the heat flow approaches the heat flow of non-rotating convection, and an intermediate regime in which the heat flow scales according to a power law independent of thermal diffusivity and kinematic viscosity.