Experiments on Dynamics and Control of Spatiotemporal Chaos in Thermal Convection

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The research will explore the fundamental of controlling fluid flow in convective systems. Experiments will be carried out on surface tension driven (Marangoni) convection where the driving forces, thermally induced surface tension gradients confined to an interface, can be probed and altered for both laminar and chaotic convection. The driving will be determined via infrared imaging of the interfacial temperature field and altered direclty via nearly simultaneous, multipoint heating by an infrared laser scanner. Dynamics in three areas will be investigated: 1) wavenumber selection mechanism of spatially periodic patterns; 2) defect dynamics in disordered convective flow; 3) the role of unstable periodic orbits in spatiotemporal chaos.