arXiv subjects

Alessandra Sabina Lanotte

Publications and source records attributed to Alessandra Sabina Lanotte.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Long-time evolution of density layers and interfaces in forced stably-stratified flows

Stably stratified fluids subject to sustained forcing are known to develop step-like density "staircases", where nearly homogeneous layers alternate with thin interfaces of strong stratification. However, long-time numerical investigations of this phenomenon have been limited by the intrinsically slow evolution of large-scale modes and the sensitivity of stratified turbulence to physical parameters. We present direct numerical simulations of forced Boussinesq flows for three stratification strengths (Fr = 0.42, 0.22, 0.076) and of unprecedented time extensions - up to O(10000) turnover times - with the purpose of reproducing and studying the very slow coarsening of the layered state. A large-scale friction term is introduced to arrest shear-mode growth and mimic finite-domain constraints. Staircase formation is observed for both medium and strong stratified cases, following two different coarsening dynamics: interfaces decaying or merging. While kinetic energy remains quasi-stationary during interface decay, it exhibits sharp bursts during merging events. The emergence and persistence of density steps can be explained by the non-monotonic relation between buoyancy flux and buoyancy gradient. Intermittency in vertical velocity and density fluctuations is confined to the vicinity of layer-interface boundaries, indicating that strong events arise from the interaction between turbulent mixing and layer formation rather than from regions of large density gradients alone.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Topological Pathways to Two-Dimensional Quantum Turbulence

We present a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the formation and decay kinetics of vortices in two dimensional, compressible quantum turbulence. We follow the temporal evolution of a quantum fluid of exciton polaritons, hybrid light matter quasiparticles, and measure both phase and modulus of the order parameter in the turbulent regime. Fundamental topological conservation laws require that the formation and annihilation of vortices also involve critical points of the velocity field, namely nodes and saddles. Identifying the simplest mechanisms underlying these processes enables us to develop an effective kinetic model that closely aligns with the experimental observations, and shows that different processes are responsible for vortex number growth and decay. These findings underscore the crucial role played by topological constraints in shaping nonlinear, turbulent evolution of two dimensional quantum fluids.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2022

Heavy and light inertial particle aggregates in homogeneous isotropic turbulence: A study on breakup and stress statistics

The breakup of inertial, solid aggregates in an incompressible, homogeneous and isotropic three-dimensional turbulent flow is studied by means of a direct numerical simulation, and by a Lagrangian tracking of the aggregates at varying Stokes number and fluid-to-particle density ratio. Within the point-particle approximation of the Maxey-Riley-Gatignol equations of motion, we analyse the statistics of the time series of shear and drag stresses, which are here both deemed as responsible for particle breakup. We observe that, regardless of the Stokes number, the shear stresses produced by the turbulent velocity gradients similarly impact the breakup statistics of inertial and neutrally buoyant aggregates, and dictate the breakup rate of loose aggregates. When the density ratio is different from unity, drag stresses become dominant and are seen to be able to cause to breakup of also the most resistant aggregates. The present work paves the way for including the role of inertia in population balance models addressing particle breakup in turbulent flows.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2016

Turbulence on a Fractal Fourier set

A novel investigation of the nature of intermittency in incompressible, homogeneous and isotropic turbulence is performed by a numerical study of the Navier-Stokes equations constrained on a fractal Fourier set. The robustness of the energy transfer and of the vortex stretching mechanisms is tested by changing the fractal dimension, D, from the original three dimensional case to a strongly decimated system with D=2.5, where only about $3\%$ of the Fourier modes interact. This is a unique methodology to probe the statistical properties of the turbulent energy cascade, without breaking any of the original symmetries of the equations. While the direct energy cascade persists, deviations from the Kolmogorov scaling are observed in the kinetic energy spectra. A model in terms of a correction with a linear dependency on the co-dimension of the fractal set, $E(k) \sim k^{-5/3 + 3-D}$, explains the results. At small scales, the intermittency of the vorticity field is observed to be quasi-singular as a function of the fractal mode reduction, leading to an almost Gaussian statistics already at $D \sim 2.98$. These effects must be connected to a genuine modification in the triad-to-triad nonlinear energy transfer mechanism.

physics.flu-dyn↗