Non-Kolmogorov scaling for two-particle relative velocity in two-dimensional inverse energy-cascade turbulence

Abstract

Herein,we numerically examine the relative dispersion of Lagrangian particle pairs in two-dimensional inverse energy-cascade turbulence. Behind the Richardson-Obukhov $t^3$ law of relative separation, we discover that the second-order moment of the relative velocity have a temporal scaling exponent different from the prediction based on the Kolmogorov's phenomenology. The results also indicate that time evolution of the probability distribution function of the relative velocity is self-similar. The findings are obtained by enforcing Richardson-Obukhov law either by considering a special initial separation or by conditional sampling. In particular, we demonstrate that the conditional sampling removes the initial-separation dependence of the statistics of the separation and relative velocity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the conditional statistics are robust with respect to the change in the parameters involved, and that the number of the removed pairs from the sampling decreases when the Reynolds number increases. We also discuss the insights gained as a result of conditional sampling.