Steep Cliffs and Saturated Exponents in Three-Dimensional Scalar Turbulence

Saturation and Multifractality of Lagrangian and Eulerian Scaling Exponents in Three-Dimensional Turbulence

Inertial-range scaling exponents for both Lagrangian and Eulerian structure functions are obtained from direct numerical simulations of isotropic turbulence in triply periodic domains at Taylor-scale Reynolds number up to 1300. We reaffirm that transverse Eulerian scaling exponents saturate at ≈2.1 for moment orders p≥10, significantly differing from the longitudinal exponents (which are predicted to saturate at ≈7.3 for p≥30 from a recent theory). The Lagrangian scaling exponents likewise saturate at ≈2 for p≥8. The saturation of Lagrangian exponents and transverse Eulerian exponents is related by the same multifractal spectrum by utilizing the well-known frozen hypothesis to relate spatial and temporal scales. Furthermore, this spectrum is different from the known spectra for Eulerian longitudinal exponents, suggesting that Lagrangian intermittency is characterized solely by transverse Eulerian intermittency. We discuss possible implications of this outlook when extending multifractal predictions to the dissipation range, especially for Lagrangian acceleration.

Anomalous Dissipation and Lack of Selection in the Obukhov-Corrsin Theory of Scalar Turbulence

The Obukhov-Corrsin theory of scalar turbulence [21, 54] advances quantitative predictions on passive-scalar advection in a turbulent regime and can be regarded as the analogue for passive scalars of Kolmogorov's K41 theory of fully developed turbulence [47]. The scaling analysis of Obukhov and Corrsin from 1949 to 1951 identifies a critical regularity threshold for the advection-diffusion equation and predicts anomalous dissipation in the limit of vanishing diffusivity in the supercritical regime. In this paper we provide a fully rigorous mathematical validation of this prediction by constructing a velocity field and an initial datum such that the unique bounded solution of the advection-diffusion equation is bounded uniformly-in-diffusivity within any fixed supercritical Obukhov-Corrsin regularity regime while also exhibiting anomalous dissipation. Our approach relies on a fine quantitative analysis of the interaction between the spatial scale of the solution and the scale of the Brownian motion which represents diffusion in a stochastic Lagrangian setting. This provides a direct Lagrangian approach to anomalous dissipation which is fundamental in order to get detailed insight on the behavior of the solution. Exploiting further this approach, we also show that for a velocity field in C α of space and time (for an arbitrary 0 ≤ α < 1 ) neither vanishing diffusivity nor regularization by convolution provide a selection criterion for bounded solutions of the advection equation. This is motivated by the fundamental open problem of the selection of solutions of the Euler equations as vanishing-viscosity limit of solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations and provides a complete negative answer in the case of passive advection.

Constrained Reversible System for Navier-Stokes Turbulence

Following a Gallavotti's conjecture, stationary states of Navier-Stokes fluids are proposed to be described equivalently by alternative equations besides the Navier-Stokes equation itself. We discuss a model system symmetric under time reversal based on the Navier-Stokes equations constrained to keep the enstrophy constant. It is demonstrated through highly resolved numerical experiments that the reversible model evolves to a stationary state which reproduces quite accurately all statistical observables relevant for the physics of turbulence extracted by direct numerical simulations (DNS) at different Reynolds numbers. The possibility of using reversible models to mimic turbulence dynamics is of practical importance for the coarse-grained version of Navier-Stokes equations, as used in large-eddy simulations. Furthermore, the reversible model appears mathematically simpler, since enstrophy is bounded to be constant for every Reynolds number. Finally, the theoretical interest in the context of statistical mechanics is briefly discussed.

Scaling or multiscaling: Varieties of universality in a driven nonlinear model

Physical understanding of how the interplay between symmetries and nonlinear effects can control the scaling and multiscaling properties in a coupled driven system, such as magnetohydrodynamic turbulence or turbulent binary fluid mixtures, remains elusive. To address this generic issue, we construct a conceptual nonlinear hydrodynamic model, parametrized jointly by the nonlinear coefficients, and the spatial scaling of the variances of the advecting stochastic velocity and the stochastic additive driving force, respectively. By using a perturbative one-loop dynamic renormalization group method, we calculate the multiscaling exponents of the suitably defined equal-time structure functions of the dynamical variable. We show that depending upon the control parameters the model can display a variety of universal scaling behaviors ranging from simple scaling to multiscaling.

Turbulence is an Ineffective Mixer when Schmidt Numbers Are Large

We solve the advection-diffusion equation for a stochastically stationary passive scalar θ, in conjunction with forced 3D Navier-Stokes equations, using direct numerical simulations in periodic domains of various sizes, the largest being 8192^{3}. The Taylor-scale Reynolds number varies in the range 140-650 and the Schmidt number Sc≡ν/D in the range 1-512, where ν is the kinematic viscosity of the fluid and D is the molecular diffusivity of θ. Our results show that turbulence becomes an ineffective mixer when Sc is large. First, the mean scalar dissipation rate ⟨χ⟩=2D⟨|∇θ|^{2}⟩, when suitably nondimensionalized, decreases as 1/logSc. Second, 1D cuts through the scalar field indicate increasing density of sharp fronts on larger scales, oscillating with large excursions leading to reduced mixing, and additionally suggesting weakening of scalar variance flux across the scales. The scaling exponents of the scalar structure functions in the inertial-convective range appear to saturate with respect to the moment order and the saturation exponent approaches unity as Sc increases, qualitatively consistent with 1D cuts of the scalar.

Phase transition in time-reversible Navier-Stokes equations

We present a comprehensive study of the statistical features of a three-dimensional (3D) time-reversible truncated Navier-Stokes (RNS) system, wherein the standard viscosity ν is replaced by a fluctuating thermostat that dynamically compensates for fluctuations in the total energy. We analyze the statistical features of the RNS steady states in terms of a non-negative dimensionless control parameter R_{r}, which quantifies the balance between the fluctuations of kinetic energy at the forcing length scale ℓ_{f} and the total energy E_{0}. For small R_{r}, the RNS equations are found to produce "warm" stationary statistics, e.g., characterized by the partial thermalization of the small scales. For large R_{r}, the stationary solutions have features akin to standard hydrodynamic ones: they have compact energy support in k space and are essentially insensitive to the truncation scale k_{max}. The transition between the two statistical regimes is observed to be smooth but rather sharp. Using insights from a diffusion model of turbulence (Leith model), we argue that the transition is in fact akin to a continuous second-order phase transition, where R_{r} indeed behaves as a thermodynamic control parameter, e.g., a temperature. A relevant order parameter can be suitably defined in terms of a (normalized) enstrophy, while the symmetry-breaking parameter h is identified as (one over) the truncation scale k_{max}. We find that the signatures of the phase transition close to the critical point R_{r}^{★} can essentially be deduced from a heuristic mean-field Landau free energy. This point of view allows us to reinterpret the relevant asymptotics in which the dynamical ensemble equivalence conjectured by Gallavotti [Phys. Lett. A 223, 91 (1996)PYLAAG0375-960110.1016/S0375-9601(96)00729-3] could hold true. We argue that Gallavotti's limit is precisely the joint limit R_{r}→[over >]R_{r}^{★} and h→[over >]0, with the overset symbol ">" indicating that those limits are approached from above. The limit therefore relates to the statistical features at the critical point. In this regime, our numerics indicate that the low-order statistics of the 3D RNS are indeed qualitatively similar to those observed in direct numerical simulations of the standard Navier-Stokes equations with viscosity chosen so as to match the average value of the reversible thermostat. This result suggests that Gallavotti's equivalence conjecture could indeed be of relevance to model 3D turbulent statistics, and provides a clear guideline for further numerical investigations involving higher resolutions.

Turbulent mixing: A perspective

Mixing of initially distinct substances plays an important role in our daily lives as well as in ecological and technological worlds. From the continuum point of view, which we adopt here, mixing is complete when the substances come together across smallest flow scales determined in part by molecular mechanisms, but important stages of the process occur via the advection of substances by an underlying flow. We know how smooth flows enable mixing but less well the manner in which a turbulent flow influences it; but the latter is the more common occurrence on Earth and in the universe. We focus here on turbulent mixing, with more attention paid to the postmixing state than to the transient process of initiation. In particular, we examine turbulent mixing when the substance is a scalar (i.e., characterized only by the scalar property of its concentration), and the mixing process does not influence the flow itself (i.e., the scalar is "passive"). This is the simplest paradigm of turbulent mixing. Within this paradigm, we discuss how a turbulently mixed state depends on the flow Reynolds number and the Schmidt number of the scalar (the ratio of fluid viscosity to the scalar diffusivity), point out some fundamental aspects of turbulent mixing that render it difficult to be addressed quantitatively, and summarize a set of ideas that help us appreciate its physics in diverse circumstances. We consider the so-called universal and anomalous features and summarize a few model studies that help us understand them both.