A nonviscous fluid, completely filling a tube rotating about its horizontal axis, contains a suspension of macroscopic particles. The particles are observed to distribute themselves spontaneously in bands distributed periodically along the axis, with a band separation dependent only on the tube radius and length. In many cases, the bands oscillate periodically between two interleaving patterns. We explain this banding phenomenon as arising from the excitation of inertial standing waves in the rotating fluid.

• Received 8 April 2003

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.69.015301