WAVE-NUMBER SELECTION AND TRAVELING VORTEX WAVES IN SPATIALLY RAMPED TAYLOR-COUETTE FLOW

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. © 1990 The American Physical Society.