Internal dynamics of global liquid layers in planetary objects by Jeremy Rekier

In rotating fluids, the Coriolis force acts as a restoring force that can support oscillations known as inertial waves. One
important example are Rossby waves existing in the Earth’s thin atmospheric and oceanic layers. The dispersion relation and profile of
those waves can be derived mathematically by treating the fluid layer as thin compared to the planet’s radius. When the layer extends globally,
Rossby modes develop, characterised by their radial vorticity. These form a subset of a larger family of inertial modes that is revealed when
the finite thickness of the fluid layer is taken into account. Those modes are a long-standing subject of study in the Earth’s liquid core
and are also often cited as an important ingredient in the internal and atmospheric dynamics of gas giants and of the subsurface oceans of icy
satellites. They have also been recently identified in the convective envelope of the Sun. This seminar gives an overview of inertial modes
and how we can use their sensitivity to buoyancy and the Lorentz force
to probe the internal structure of planets, planetary objects, and stars.