Intermittent chaotic flows in the weakly magnetised spherical Couette system

Experiments on the magnetised spherical Couette system are presently being carried out at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). A liquid metal (GaInSn) is confined within two differentially rotating spheres and exposed to a magnetic field parallel to the axis of rotation. Intermittent chaotic flows, corresponding to the radial jet
instability, are described. The relation of these chaotic flows with unstable regular (periodic and quasiperiodic) solutions obtained at the same range of parameters is investigated.