Pattern Formations of 2D Rayleigh-Bènard Convection with No-Slip Boundary Conditions for the Velocity at the Critical Length Scales

We study the Rayleigh-B{é}nard convection in a 2-D rectangular domain with no-slip boundary conditions for the velocity. The main mathematical challenge is due to the no-slip boundary conditions, since the separation of variables for the linear eigenvalue problem which works in the free-slip case is no longer possible. It is well known that as the Rayleigh number crosses a critical threshold $R_c$, the system bifurcates to an attractor, which is an $(m-1)$--dimensional sphere, where $m$ is the number of eigenvalues which cross zero as R crosses $R_c$. The main objective of this article is to derive a full classification of the structure of this bifurcated attractor when $m=2$. More precisely, we rigorously prove that when $m=2$, the bifurcated attractor is homeomorphic to a one-dimensional circle consisting of exactly four or eight steady states and their connecting heteroclinic orbits. In addition, we show that the mixed modes can be stable steady states for small Prandtl numbers.

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