Buaria D, Lawson JM, Wilczek M. Twisting vortex lines regularize Navier-Stokes turbulence.
SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024;
10:eado1969. [PMID:
39270016 PMCID:
PMC11421575 DOI:
10.1126/sciadv.ado1969]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024]
Abstract
Fluid flows are intrinsically characterized via the topology and dynamics of underlying vortex lines. Turbulence in common fluids like water and air, mathematically described by the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations (INSE), engenders spontaneous self-stretching and twisting of vortex lines, generating a complex hierarchy of structures. While the INSE are routinely used to describe turbulence, their regularity remains unproven; the implicit assumption being that the self-stretching is ultimately regularized by viscosity, preventing any singularities. Here, we uncover an inviscid regularizing mechanism stemming from self-stretching itself, by analyzing the flow topology as perceived by an observer aligned with the vorticity vector undergoing amplification. While, initially, vorticity amplification occurs via increasing twisting of vortex lines, a regularizing anti-twist spontaneously emerges to prevent unbounded growth. By isolating a vortex, we additionally demonstrate the genericity of this self-regularizing anti-twist. Our work, directly linking dynamics of vortices to turbulence statistics, reveals how the Navier-Stokes dynamics avoids the development of singularities even without the aid of viscosity.
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