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arXiv · 1607.06845

A statistical mechanics approach to mixing in stratified fluids

Antoine Venaille·Louis Gostiaux·Joel Sommeria
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Abstract

Predicting how much mixing occurs when a given amount of energy is injected into a Boussinesq fluid is a longstanding problem in stratified turbulence. The huge number of degrees of freedom involved in those processes renders extremely difficult a deterministic approach to the problem. Here we present a statistical mechanics approach yielding prediction for a cumulative, global mixing efficiency as a function of a global Richardson number and the background buoyancy profile.

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Antoine Venaille, Louis Gostiaux, Joel Sommeria. 2016-10-27. A statistical mechanics approach to mixing in stratified fluids. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2016.721

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