This study investigates the emergence of hurricane-like vortices in
idealized simulations of rotating moist convection. A Boussinesq
atmosphere with simplified thermodynamics for phase transitions is
forced by prescribing the temperature and humidity at the upper and
lower boundaries. The governing equations are solved numerically using a
variable-density incompressible Navier-Stokes solver with adaptive mesh
refinement to explore the behavior of moist convection under a broad
range of conditions. In the absence of rotation, convection aggregates
into active patches separated by large unsaturated regions. Rotation
modulates this statistical equilibrium state so that the self-aggregated
convection organizes hurricane-like vortices. The warm and saturated air
converges to the center of the vortices, and the latent heat released
through the upwelling forms the warm core structure. These
hurricane-like vortices share characteristics similar to tropical
cyclones in the earth's atmosphere. The hurricane-like vortices occur
under conditionally unstable conditions where the potential energy given
at the boundaries is large enough, corresponding to a moderate rate of
rotation. This regime shares many similar characteristics to the
tropical atmosphere indicating that the formation of intense meso-scale
vortices is a general characteristics of rotating moist convection. The
model used here does no include any interactions with radiation,
wind-evaporation feedback, or cloud microphysics, indicating that, while
these processes may be relevant for tropical cyclogenesis in the Earth
atmosphere, they are not its primary cause. Instead, our results confirm
that the formation and maintenance of hurricane-like vortices involve a
combination of atmospheric dynamics under the presence of rotation and
of phase transitions.