Effective transport by 2D turbulence: Vortex-gas theory vs. scale-invariant inverse cascade

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Meunier, Julie, Gallet, Basile
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Meunier, Julie
Gallet, Basile
author_facet Meunier, Julie
Gallet, Basile
contents The scale-invariant inverse energy cascade is a hallmark of 2D turbulence, with its theoretical energy spectrum observed in both direct numerical simulations (DNS) and laboratory experiments. Under this scale-invariance assumption, the effective diffusivity of a 2D turbulent flow is dimensionally controlled by the energy flux and the friction coefficient only. Surprisingly, however, we show that such scaling predictions are invalidated by numerical solutions of the 2D Navier-Stokes equation forced at intermediate wave number and damped by weak linear or quadratic drag. We derive alternate scaling-laws for the effective diffusivity based on the emergence of intense, isolated vortices causing spatially inhomogeneous frictional dissipation localized within the small vortex cores. The predictions quantitatively match DNS data. This study points to a universal large-scale organization of 2D turbulent flows in physical space, bridging standard 2D Navier-Stokes turbulence with large-scale geophysical turbulence.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_17431
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Effective transport by 2D turbulence: Vortex-gas theory vs. scale-invariant inverse cascade
Meunier, Julie
Gallet, Basile
Fluid Dynamics
The scale-invariant inverse energy cascade is a hallmark of 2D turbulence, with its theoretical energy spectrum observed in both direct numerical simulations (DNS) and laboratory experiments. Under this scale-invariance assumption, the effective diffusivity of a 2D turbulent flow is dimensionally controlled by the energy flux and the friction coefficient only. Surprisingly, however, we show that such scaling predictions are invalidated by numerical solutions of the 2D Navier-Stokes equation forced at intermediate wave number and damped by weak linear or quadratic drag. We derive alternate scaling-laws for the effective diffusivity based on the emergence of intense, isolated vortices causing spatially inhomogeneous frictional dissipation localized within the small vortex cores. The predictions quantitatively match DNS data. This study points to a universal large-scale organization of 2D turbulent flows in physical space, bridging standard 2D Navier-Stokes turbulence with large-scale geophysical turbulence.
title Effective transport by 2D turbulence: Vortex-gas theory vs. scale-invariant inverse cascade
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.17431