English

Fluctuations in a fluid with a thermal gradient

Statistical Mechanics 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

We report measurements of the temperature fluctuations in a horizontal layer of a pure fluid confined between parallel plates and heated from below. Consistent with earlier work we found that the structure factor ST(q)S_T(q) (the square of the modulus of the Fourier transform of the temperature field) was consistent with ST(q)q4S_T(q) \sim q^{-4} for large horizontal wavenumbers qq. As qq decreased, S(q)S(q) increased less rapidly, passed through a maximum, and then approached zero. The results agree qualitatively, but not quantitatively, with the predictions of Ortiz de Z\'arate and Sengers.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.cond-mat/0209104,
  title  = {Fluctuations in a fluid with a thermal gradient},
  author = {Jaechul Oh and Guenter Ahlers},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:cond-mat/0209104},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

4 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

R2 v1 2026-07-22T10:40:56.772Z