Convection in Spheres and Spherical Shells

Abstract

Many problems of motions in stars, planetary atmospheres and cores require description of convection in spherical shells and within spheres which may be considered as a partial case of a sphere with zero internal radius. A spherical geometry with a central gravity field is pertinent to natural objects. In the laboratory, experiments on the Earth’s surface are in a homogeneous gravity field. For the spheres rotating in laboratory conditions, we have a superposition of two types of symmetry: one is related to the spherical geometry and the other (cylindrical) is related to the rotation. This superposition complicates the theoretical consideration.