A selection principle for Bénard-type convection (Q1080729): Difference between revisions

The Bénard convection problem is studied, the main point being the formulation of a selection principle used to explain why in a certain range of problem parameters hexagonal cells are not probable to arise. A variational dissipation functional is defined which attains its minimum on the steady state solutions of the Boussinesq problem subjected to one additional constraint. It is shown that this approach yields stable subcritical solutions of the generalized Boussinesq problem.