“…Assuming that the control authority is mainly determined by the primary vortex ring, starting jets may be modulated to exclusively generate this flow structure, thereby enhancing the efficiency. Investigating starting jets ejected into still surroundings by means of a pulsed jet actuator (PJA), recent experiments by Steinfurth & Weiss (2020 b ) show that conclusions drawn from previous fundamental studies cannot be directly transferred to the PJA-generated starting jets often used in active flow control (AFC). Specifically, their expansion and entrainment rates are much larger as vortex rings with extremely thick cores are generated.…”