Abstract
The linear stability of a horizontal layer of fluid heated from below and above is considered. In addition to a steady temperature difference between the walls of the fluid layer, a time-dependent periodic perturbation is applied to the wall temperatures. Only infinitesimal disturbances are considered. Numerical results for the critical Rayleigh number are obtained at various Prandtl numbers and for various values of the frequency. Some comparisons have been made with the known results.