On the criteria of the absolute convective stability for compressible fluids

The conditions under which natural convection is absent from compressible fluids are investigated. It is shown that in the parameter “Rayleigh number-given temperature difference” plane there is a domain in which convection occurs for neither Rayleigh numbers. It is proposed to refer to this domain as the absolute convective stability region and to name the criterion determining the boundary of this region the absolute convective stability criterion. The necessary, sufficient, and necessary and sufficient conditions of the absolute convective stability for a viscous compressible fluid are derived. It is shown that in the particular case in which the thermal properties of the fluid and the adiabatic gradient are constant, these conditions coincide with the Schwarzschild criterion.