Experimental evaluation of the intrinsic noise in the Couette-Taylor system with an axial flow

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Abstract
The intrinsic noise in the Couette-Taylor system with axial flow is evaluated experimentally by several methods, which include a comparison of experimental data with numerical simulations of the amplitude equation with a noise term and the application of an external source of stochastic perturbations at the inlet. The intensity of the intrinsic noise is found in our system to be dependent on the through-flow velocity in the following manner: for large enough through-flow velocities (Reynolds number Re>2) the intensity of the noise drastically increases with Re, whereas for small Re the noise amplitude is independent of Re and reaches a constant value of ≃0.02 μm/s, which is of the order of magnitude of the theoretically estimated value for the thermal noise. The amplitude of the intrinsic noise at large through-flow velocities (Re≃3) is found in our system to be larger than the thermal noise by more than one order of magnitude. Its origin is suggested to be associated with the perturbations of the flow at the inlet boundary.