Cell sizes at the onset of oscillatory convective instability in a layer of low-prandtl-number fluid subject to rotation and a vertical magnetic field

The computed theoretical predictions of cell sizes at the onset of direct and oscillatory instabilities when a rotating layer of mercury is heated from below and subjected to the influence of a vertical magnetic field are compared with the experimentally determined values of Nakagawa (1). The point of transition from oscillatory instability to direct instability which is manifested in a discontinuous change in the cell sizes is also investigated.