Bifurcations of rotating waves in rotating spherical shell convection.

The dynamics and bifurcations of convective waves in rotating and buoyancy-driven spherical Rayleigh-Bénard convection are investigated numerically. The solution branches that arise as rotating waves (RWs) are traced by means of path-following methods, by varying the Rayleigh number as a control parameter for different rotation rates. The dependence of the azimuthal drift frequency of the RWs on the Ekman and Rayleigh numbers is determined and discussed. The influence of the rotation rate on the generation and stability of secondary branches is demonstrated. Multistability is typical in the parameter range considered.