Eddy-wave duality in a rotating flow
A series of experiments with rotating, electromagnetically forced, turbulent flows were carried out at the Sapienza University of Rome to investigate the eddy-wave duality in flows with a β-effect and the electromagnetic force acting in the westward direction. When the β-effect is significant, i.e., as in planetary atmospheric and oceanic circulations, nonlinear eddy/wave interactions facilitate flow self-organization into zonal patterns in which Rossby waves and westward propagating cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies coexist.