Notes on symmetry in convective flows

Abstract In most fluid dynamics problems, the governing equations are nonlinear because of the presence of convective terms. Nevertheless, existence of solutions can be shown by direct sum provided one identifies, in the relevant Banach space of solutions, particular subspaces which are invariant under time evolution. As an example, we consider classical convection problems and show how symmetry arguments can help in identifying such subspaces, as well as the role it can play in some stability issues.