Abstract
Experiments with shadowgraph visualization reveal a subcritical transition to a hexagonal convection pattern in thin liquid layers that have a free upper surface and are heated from below. The measured critical Marangoni number (84) and observation of hysteresis ( ) agree with theory. In some experiments, imperfect bifurcation is observed and is attributed to deterministic forcing caused in part by the lateral boundaries in the experiment.
- Received 5 May 1995
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.75.1938
©1995 American Physical Society