Influence of Boundary Conditions and Heating Modes on the Onset of Columnar Convection in Rotating Spherical Shells

Abstract: We investigate the linear onset of thermal convection in rotating spherical shells with a focus on the influence of mechanical boundary conditions and thermal driving modes. Using a spectral method, we determine critical Rayleigh numbers, azimuthal wavenumbers, and oscillation frequencies over a wide range of Prandtl numbers and shell aspect ratios at moderate Ekman numbers. We show that the preferred boundary condition for convective onset depends systematically on both aspect ratio and Prandtl number: for sufficiently thick shells or for large $\text{Pr}$, the Ekman boundary layer at the outer boundary becomes destabilising, so that no-slip boundaries yield a lower $\text{Ra}_c$ than stress-free boundaries. Comparing differential and internal heating, we find that internal heating generally raises $\text{Ra}_c$, shifts the onset to larger wavenumbers and frequencies, and relocates the critical column away from the tangent cylinder. Mixed boundary conditions with no-slip on the inner boundary behave similarly to purely stress-free boundaries, confirming the dominant influence of the outer surface. These results demonstrate that boundary conditions and heating mechanisms play a central role in controlling the onset of convection and should be carefully considered in models of planetary and stellar interiors.