Wave-number selection and traveling vortex waves in spatially ramped Taylor-Couette flow

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Abstract
We report experimental results for wave-number selection in Taylor-vortex flow with slow spatial ramps of the Reynolds number. The accessible range of wave numbers is always much smaller than the Eckhaus-stable range, but the selected wave number depends on the detailed nature of the ramp. For a particular ramp, wave numbers outside the Eckhaus-stable band were selected, leading to a periodic state of traveling vortices. The selected wave numbers and the frequencies of the periodic state agree well with a phase-dynamical calculation by Riecke and Paap.