Küppers-Lortz transition at high dimensionless rotation rates in rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection

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Abstract
We show that for rotating Rayleigh-Bénard convection over a range of dimensionless rotation rates 270<Ω<2500, bulk convection structures are Küppers-Lortz unstable near onset. We used optical shadowgraph imaging to visualize the pattern dynamics, found switching angles of approximately 60°, and observed separate spatial domains where switchings took place at different times. The characteristic switching frequencies were found to depend weakly on the rotation rate. Finite-size and boundary effects were observed to complicate the switching dynamics close to onset.