arXiv subjects

Gregory L. Eyink

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory L. Eyink.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Stochastic Lagrangian Dynamics of Vorticity. II. Channel-Flow Turbulence

We here exploit a rigorous mathematical theory of vorticity dynamics for Navier-Stokes solutions in terms of stochastic Lagrangian flows and their stochastic Cauchy invariants, that are conserved on average backward in time. This theory yields exact expressions for the vorticity inside the flow domain in terms of the vorticity at the wall, as it is transported by viscous diffusion and by nonlinear advection, stretching and rotation. As a concrete application, we exploit an online database of a turbulent channel-flow simulation at $Re_τ = 1000$ (Graham et al. 2016) to determine the origin of the vorticity in the near-wall buffer layer. Following an experimental study of Sheng et al. (2009), we identify typical "ejection" and "sweep" events in the buffer layer by local minima/maxima of the wall-stress. In contrast to their conjecture, however, we find that vortex-lifting from the wall is not a discrete event requiring only ~1 viscous time and ~10 wall units, but is instead a distributed process taking place over a space-time region at least 1~2 orders of magnitude larger in extent. We show that Lagrangian chaos observed in the buffer layer can be reconciled with saturated vorticity magnitude by a process of "virtual reconnection": although the Eulerian vorticity field in the viscous sublayer has only a single sign of spanwise component, opposite signs of Lagrangian vorticity evolve by rotation and cancel by viscous destruction. Our analysis reveals many unifying features of classical fluids and quantum superfluids. We argue that "bundles" of quantized vortices in superfluid turbulence will also exhibit stochastic Lagrangian dynamics and will satisfy stochastic conservation laws resulting from particle relabelling symmetry.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2019

An Onsager Singularity Theorem for Leray Solutions of Incompressible Navier-Stokes

We study in the inviscid limit the global energy dissipation of Leray solutions of incompressible Navier-Stokes on the torus ${\mathbb T}^d$, assuming that the solutions have norms for Besov space $B^{σ,\infty}_3({\mathbb T}^d),$ $σ\in (0,1],$ that are bounded in the $L^3$-sense in time, uniformly in viscosity. We establish an upper bound on energy dissipation of the form $O(ν^{(3σ-1)/(σ+1)}),$ vanishing as $ν\to0$ if $σ>1/3.$ A consequence is that Onsager-type "quasi-singularities" are required in the Leray solutions, even if the total energy dissipation vanishes in the limit $ν\to 0$, as long as it does so sufficiently slowly. We also give two sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of limiting weak Euler solutions $u$ which satisfy a local energy balance with possible anomalous dissipation due to inertial-range energy cascade in the Leray solutions. For $σ\in (1/3,1)$ the anomalous dissipation vanishes and the weak Euler solutions may be spatially "rough" but conserve energy.

math.AP↗

arXiv2018

Cascades and Dissipative Anomalies in Nearly Collisionless Plasma Turbulence

We develop first-principles theory of kinetic plasma turbulence governed by the Vlasov-Maxwell-Landau equations in the limit of vanishing collision rates. Following an exact renormalization-group approach pioneered by Onsager, we demonstrate the existence of a "collisionless range" of scales (lengths and velocities) in 1-particle phase space where the ideal Vlasov-Maxwell equations are satisfied in a "coarse-grained sense". Entropy conservation may nevertheless be violated in that range by a "dissipative anomaly" due to nonlinear entropy cascade. We derive "4/5th-law" type expressions for the entropy flux, which allow us to characterize the singularities (structure-function scaling exponents) required for its non-vanishing. Conservation laws of mass, momentum and energy are not afflicted with anomalous transfers in the collisionless limit. In a subsequent limit of small gyroradii, however, anomalous contributions to inertial-range energy balance may appear due both to cascade of bulk energy and to turbulent redistribution of internal energy in phase space. In that same limit the "generalized Ohm's law" derived from the particle momentum balances reduces to an "ideal Ohm's law", but only in a coarse-grained sense that does not imply magnetic flux-freezing and that permits magnetic reconnection at all inertial-range scales. We compare our results with prior theory based on the gyrokinetic (high gyro-frequency) limit, with numerical simulations, and with spacecraft measurements of the solar wind and terrestrial magnetosphere.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Review of the Onsager "Ideal Turbulence" Theory

In his famous undergraduate physics lectures, Richard Feynman remarked about the problem of fluid turbulence: "Nobody in physics has really been able to analyze it mathematically satisfactorily in spite of its importance to the sister sciences". This statement was already false when Feynman made it. Unbeknownst to him, Lars Onsager decades earlier had made an exact mathematical analysis of the high Reynolds-number limit of incompressible fluid turbulence, using a method that would now be described as a non-perturbative renormalization group analysis and discovering the first "conservation-law anomaly" in theoretical physics. Onsager's results were only cryptically announced in 1949 and he never published any of his detailed calculations. Onsager's analysis was finally rescued from oblivion and reproduced by this author in 1992. The ideas have subsequently been intensively developed in the mathematical PDE community, where deep connections emerged with John Nash's work on isometric embeddings. Furthermore, Onsager's method has more recently been successfully applied to new physics problems, such as compressible fluid turbulence and relativistic fluid turbulence, yielding many novel testable predictions. This note will explain Onsager's exact analysis of incompressible turbulence using modern ideas on renormalization group and conservation-law anomalies, and it will also very briefly review subsequent developments.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

An Onsager Singularity Theorem for Turbulent Solutions of Compressible Euler Equations

We prove that bounded weak solutions of the compressible Euler equations will conserve thermodynamic entropy unless the solution fields have sufficiently low space-time Besov regularity. A quantity measuring kinetic energy cascade will also vanish for such Euler solutions, unless the same singularity conditions are satisfied. It is shown furthermore that strong limits of solutions of compressible Navier-Stokes equations that are bounded and exhibit anomalous dissipation are weak Euler solutions. These inviscid limit solutions have non-negative anomalous entropy production and kinetic energy dissipation, with both vanishing when solutions are above the critical degree of Besov regularity. Stationary, planar shocks in Euclidean space with an ideal-gas equation of state provide simple examples that satisfy the conditions of our theorems and which demonstrate sharpness of our $L^3$-based conditions. These conditions involve space-time Besov regularity, but we show that they are satisfied by Euler solutions that possess similar space regularity uniformly in time.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

A Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relation for scalar turbulence, I. Flows with no bounding walls

An exact relation is derived between scalar dissipation due to molecular diffusivity and the randomness of stochastic Lagrangian trajectories for flows without bounding walls. This "Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relation" equates the scalar dissipation for either passive or active scalars to the variance of scalar inputs associated to initial scalar values and internal scalar sources, as those are sampled backward in time by the stochastic Lagrangian trajectories. As an important application, we reconsider the phenomenon of "Lagrangian spontaneous stochasticity" or persistent non-determinism of Lagrangian particle trajectories in the limit of vanishing viscosity and diffusivity. Previous work on the Kraichnan (1968) model of turbulent scalar advection has shown that anomalous scalar dissipation is associated in that model to Lagrangian spontaneous stochasticity. There has been controversy, however, regarding the validity of this mechanism for scalars advected by an actual turbulent flow. We here completely resolve this controversy by exploiting the fluctuation-dissipation relation. For either a passive or active scalar advected by any divergence-free velocity field, including solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, and away from walls, we prove that anomalous scalar dissipation requires Lagrangian spontaneous stochasticity. For passive scalars we prove furthermore that spontaneous stochasticity yields anomalous dissipation for suitable initial scalar distributions, so that the two phenomena are there completely equivalent. These points are illustrated by numerical results from a database of homogeneous, isotropic turbulence, which provide both additional support to the results and physical insight into the representation of diffusive effects by stochastic Lagrangian particle trajectories.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

A Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relation for scalar turbulence, II. Wall-bounded flows

We derive here Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relations for advected scalars in wall-bounded flows. The relations equate the dissipation rate for either passive or active scalars to the variance of scalar inputs from the initial values, boundary values, and internal sources, as those are sampled backward in time by stochastic Lagrangian trajectories. New probabilistic concepts are required to represent scalar boundary conditions at the walls: the boundary local-time density at points on the wall where scalar fluxes are imposed and the boundary first hitting-time at points where scalar values are imposed. These concepts are illustrated both by analytical results for the problem of pure heat conduction and by numerical results from a database of channel-flow flow turbulence, which also demonstrate the scalar mixing properties of near-wall turbulence. As an application of the fluctuation-dissipation relation, we examine for wall-bounded flows the relation between anomalous scalar dissipation and Lagrangian spontaneous stochasticity, i.e. the persistent non-determinism of Lagrangian particle trajectories in the limit of vanishing viscosity and diffusivity. In the first paper of this series, we showed that spontaneous stochasticity is the only possible mechanism for anomalous dissipation of passive or active scalars, away from walls. Here it is shown that this remains true when there are no scalar fluxes through walls. Simple examples show, on the other hand, that a distinct mechanism of non-vanishing scalar dissipation can be thin scalar boundary layers near the walls. Nevertheless, we prove for general wall-bounded flows that spontaneous stochasticity is another possible mechanism of anomalous scalar dissipation.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

A Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relation for scalar turbulence, III. Turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection

A Lagrangian fluctuation-dissipation relation has been derived in a previous work to describe the dissipation rate of advected scalars, both passive and active, in wall-bounded flows. We apply this relation here to develop a Lagrangian description of thermal dissipation in turbulent Rayleigh-Bénard convection in a right-cylindrical cell of arbitrary cross-section, with either imposed temperature difference or imposed heat-flux at the top and bottom walls. We obtain an exact relation between the steady-state thermal dissipation rate and the time for passive tracer particles released at the top or bottom wall to mix to their final uniform value near those walls. We show that an "ultimate regime" with the Nusselt-number scaling predicted by Spiegel (1971) or, with a log-correction, by Kraichnan (1962) will occur at high Rayleigh numbers, unless this near-wall mixing time is asymptotically much longer than the free-fall time, or almost the large-scale circulation time. We suggest a new criterion for an ultimate regime in terms of transition to turbulence of a thermal "mixing zone", which is much wider than the standard thermal boundary layer. Kraichnan-Spiegel scaling may, however, not hold if the intensity and volume of thermal plumes decrease sufficiently rapidly with increasing Rayleigh number. To help resolve this issue, we suggest a program to measure the near-wall mixing time, which we argue is accessible both by laboratory experiment and by numerical simulation.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Cascades and Dissipative Anomalies in Compressible Fluid Turbulence

We investigate dissipative anomalies in a turbulent fluid governed by the compressible Navier-Stokes equation. We follow an exact approach pioneered by Onsager, which we explain as a non-perturbative application of the principle of renormalization-group invariance. In the limit of high Reynolds and Péclet numbers, the flow realizations are found to be described as distributional or "coarse-grained" solutions of the compressible Euler equations, with standard conservation laws broken by turbulent anomalies. The anomalous dissipation of kinetic energy is shown to be due not only to local cascade, but also to a distinct mechanism called pressure-work defect. Irreversible heating in stationary, planar shocks with an ideal-gas equation of state exemplifies the second mechanism. Entropy conservation anomalies are also found to occur by two mechanisms: an anomalous input of negative entropy (negentropy) by pressure-work and a cascade of negentropy to small scales. We derive "4/5th-law"-type expressions for the anomalies, which allow us to characterize the singularities (structure-function scaling exponents) required to sustain the cascades. We compare our approach with alternative theories and empirical evidence. It is argued that the "Big Power-Law in the Sky" observed in electron density scintillations in the interstellar medium is a manifestation of a forward negentropy cascade, or an inverse cascade of usual thermodynamic entropy.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Cascades and Dissipative Anomalies in Relativistic Fluid Turbulence

We develop first-principles theory of relativistic fluid turbulence at high Reynolds and Péclet numbers. We follow an exact approach pioneered by Onsager, which we explain as a non-perturbative application of the principle of renormalization-group invariance. We obtain results very similar to those for non-relativistic turbulence, with hydrodynamic fields in the inertial-range described as distributional or "coarse-grained" solutions of the relativistic Euler equations. These solutions do not, however, satisfy the naive conservation-laws of smooth Euler solutions but are afflicted with dissipative anomalies in the balance equations of internal energy and entropy. The anomalies are shown to be possible by exactly two mechanisms, local cascade and pressure-work defect. We derive "4/5th-law"-type expressions for the anomalies, which allow us to characterize the singularities (structure-function scaling exponents) required for their non-vanishing. We also investigate the Lorentz covariance of the inertial-range fluxes, which we find is broken by our coarse-graining regularization but which is restored in the limit that the regularization is removed, similar to relativistic lattice quantum field theory. In the formal limit as speed of light goes to infinity, we recover the results of previous non-relativistic theory. In particular, anomalous heat input to relativistic internal energy coincides in that limit with anomalous dissipation of non-relativistic kinetic energy.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2015

Quantum Spontaneous Stochasticity

The quantum wave-function of a massive particle with small initial uncertainties (consistent with the uncertainty relation) is believed to spread very slowly, so that the dynamics is deterministic. This assumes that the classical motions for given initial data are unique. In fluid turbulence non-uniqueness due to "roughness" of the advecting velocity field is known to lead to stochastic motion of classical particles. Vanishingly small random perturbations are magnified by Richardson diffusion in a "nearly rough" velocity field so that motion remains stochastic as the noise disappears, or classical spontaneous stochasticity, . Analogies between stochastic particle motion in turbulence and quantum evolution suggest that there should be quantum spontaneous stochasticity (QSS). We show this for 1D models of a particle in a repulsive potential that is "nearly rough" with $V(x) \sim C|x|^{1+α}$ at distances $|x|\gg \ell$ , for some UV cut-off $\ell$, and for initial Gaussian wave-packet centered at 0. We consider the WKB limit with $\hbar/m \to 0$, then position-spread $σ\to 0$. The limit of the position density is non-deterministic, with equal probabilities of the particle following either of two, non-unique classical solutions and with "Richardson-like" spreading of the wave-packet. The splitting of the wave-packet occurs in a very short time $t\sim(\ell^{1+α}/C)^{1/2}$ for small $\ell$. QSS also occurs in the scattering of a wave-packet off the rough potential, for careful fine-tuning. We also consider other semi-classical limits by a numerical solution of the Schrödinger equation, observing QSS both in position- and momentum-space. Although the wave-function remains split into two widely separated branches in the classical limit, rapid phase oscillations within each branch prevent any coherent superposition. These effects should be observable in laboratory experiments.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2015

Inertial-Range Reconnection in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence and in the Solar Wind

In situ spacecraft data on the solar wind show events identified as magnetic reconnection with outflows and apparent "`$X$-lines" $10^{3-4}$ times ion scales. To understand the role of turbulence at these scales, we make a case study of an inertial-range reconnection event in a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. We observe stochastic wandering of field-lines in space, breakdown of standard magnetic flux-freezing due to Richardson dispersion, and a broadened reconnection zone containing many current sheets. The coarse-grain magnetic geometry is like large-scale reconnection in the solar wind, however, with a hyperbolic flux-tube or "$X$-line" extending over integral length-scales.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2015

Turbulent Reconnection and Its Implications

Magnetic reconnection is a process of magnetic field topology change, which is one of the most fundamental processes in magnetized plasmas. In most astrophysical environments the Reynolds numbers are large and therefore the transition to turbulence is inevitable. This turbulence must be taken into account for any theory of magnetic reconnection, since the initially laminar configurations can transit to the turbulence state, what is demonstrated by 3D high resolution numerical simulations. We discuss ideas of how turbulence can modify reconnection with the focus on the Lazarian & Vishniac (1999) reconnection model and present numerical evidence supporting the model and demonstrate that it is closely connected to the concept of Richardson diffusion and compatible with the Lagrangian dynamics of magnetized fluids. We point out that the Generalized Ohm's Law, that accounts for turbulent motion, predicts the subdominance of the microphysical plasma effects for a realistically turbulent media. We show that on of the most dramatic consequences of turbulence is the violation of the generally accepted notion of magnetic flux freezing. This notion is a corner stone of most theories dealing with magnetized plasmas and therefore its change induces fundamental shifts in accepted paradigms like turbulent reconnection entailing the diffusion process that is essential for understanding star formation. We argue, that at sufficiently high Reynolds numbers the process of tearing reconnection should transfer to turbulent reconnection. We discuss flares predicted by turbulent reconnection and relate them to solar flares and gamma ray bursts. We analyze solar observations, measurements in the solar wind or heliospheric current sheet, and show their correspondence with turbulent reconnection predictions. Finally, we discuss 1st Order Fermi acceleration as a natural consequence of the turbulent reconnection.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Turbulent General Magnetic Reconnection

Plasma flows with an MHD-like turbulent inertial range, such as the solar wind, require a generalization of General Magnetic Reconnection (GMR) theory. We introduce the slip-velocity source vector, which gives the rate of development of slip velocity per unit arc length of field line. The slip source vector is the ratio of the curl of the non ideal electric field in the Generalized Ohm's Law and the magnetic field strength. It diverges at magnetic nulls, unifying GMR with magnetic null-point reconnection. Only under restrictive assumptions is the slip velocity related to the gradient of the quasi potential (integral of parallel electric field along field lines). In a turbulent inertial range the curl becomes extremely large while the parallel component is tiny, so that line slippage occurs even while ideal MHD becomes accurate. The resolution of this paradox is that ideal MHD is valid for a turbulent inertial-range only in a weak sense which does not imply magnetic line freezing. The notion of weak solution is explained in terms of spatial coarse-graining and renormalization group (RG) theory. We give an argument for the weak validity of the ideal Ohm's law in the inertial range, via rigorous estimates of the terms in the Generalized Ohm's Law for an electron-ion plasma. All of the nonideal terms (from collisional resistivity, Hall field, electron pressure anisotropy, and electron inertia) are shown to be irrelevant in the RG sense and large-scale reconnection is thus governed solely by ideal dynamics. We briefly discuss some implications for heliospheric reconnection, in particular for deviations from the Parker spiral model of interplanetary magnetic field. Solar wind observations show that reconnection in a turbulence broadened heliospheric current sheet, consistent with the Lazarian-Vishniac theory, leads to slip velocities that cause field lines to lag relative to the spiral model.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

Kinematic Morphology of Large-scale Structure: Evolution from Potential to Rotational Flow

As an alternative way of describing the cosmological velocity field, we discuss the evolution of rotational invariants constructed from the velocity gradient tensor. Compared with the traditional divergence-vorticity decomposition, these invariants, defined as coefficients of characteristic equation of the velocity gradient tensor, enable a complete classification of all possible flow patterns in the dark-matter comoving frame, including both potential and vortical flows. We show that this tool, first introduced in turbulence two decades ago, proves to be very useful in understanding the evolution of the cosmic web structure, and in classifying its morphology. Before shell-crossing, different categories of potential flow are highly associated with cosmic web structure, because of the coherent evolution of density and velocity. This correspondence is even preserved at some level when vorticity is generated after shell-crossing. The evolution from the potential to vortical flow can be traced continuously by these invariants. With the help of this tool, we show that the vorticity is generated in a particular way that is highly correlated with the large-scale structure. This includes a distinct spatial distribution and different types of alignment between cosmic web and vorticity direction for various vortical flows. Incorporating shell-crossing into closed dynamical systems is highly non-trivial, but we propose a possible statistical explanation for some of these phenomena relating to the internal structure of the three-dimensional invariants space.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Spontaneous Stochasticity and Anomalous Dissipation for Burgers Equation

We develop a Lagrangian approach to conservation-law anomalies in weak solutions of inviscid Burgers equation, motivated by previous work on the Kraichnan model of turbulent scalar advection. We show that the entropy solutions of Burgers possess Markov stochastic processes of (generalized) Lagrangian trajectories backward in time for which the Burgers velocity is a backward martingale. This property is shown to guarantee dissipativity of conservation-law anomalies for general convex functions of the velocity. The backward stochastic Burgers flows with these properties are not unique, however. We construct infinitely many such stochastic flows, both by a geometric construction and by the zero-noise limit of the Constantin-Iyer stochastic representation of viscous Burgers solutions. The latter proof yields the spontaneous stochasticity of Lagrangian trajectories backward in time for Burgers, at unit Prandtl number. It is conjectured that existence of a backward stochastic flow with the velocity as martingale is an admissibility condition which selects the unique entropy solution for Burgers. We also study linear transport of passive densities and scalars by inviscid Burgers flows. We show that shock solutions of Burgers exhibit spontaneous stochasticity backward in time for all Prandtl numbers, implying conservation-law anomalies for linear transport. We discuss the relation of our results for Burgers with incompressible Navier-Stokes turbulence, especially Lagrangian admissibility conditions for Euler solutions and the relation between turbulent cascade directions and time-asymmetry of Lagrangian stochasticity.

math-ph↗

arXiv2013

The Diffusion Approximation in Turbulent Two-Particle Dispersion

We solve an inverse problem for fluid particle pair-statistics: we show that a time sequence of probability density functions (PDF's) of separations can be exactly reproduced by solving the diffusion equation with a suitable time-dependent diffusivity. The diffusivity tensor is given by a time-integral of a conditional Lagrangian velocity structure-function, weighted by a ratio of PDF's. Physical hypotheses for hydrodynamic turbulence (sweeping, short memory, mean-field) yield simpler integral formulas, including one of Kraichnan and Lundgren. We evaluate the latter using a spacetime database from a numerical Navier-Stokes solution for driven turbulence. This diffusion theory reproduces PDF's well at rms separations, but growth rate of mean-square dispersion is overpredicted due to neglect of memory effects. More general applications of our approach are sketched.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2012

Do Sweeping Effects Suppress Particle Dispersion in Synthetic Turbulence?

Synthetic models of Eulerian turbulence like so called "Kinematic Simulations" (KS) have been criticized by Thomson & Devenish (TD) (2005), who argued that sweeping decorrelation effects suppress pair dispersion in such models. We derive analytical results for Eulerian turbulence modeled by Gaussian random fields for the case with zero mean velocity. Our starting point is an exact integrodifferential equation for the particle pair separation distribution. When memory times of particle locations are short, a Markovian approximation leads to a Richardson-type diffusion model. We obtain a diffusivity tensor of the form $K_{ij}(r,t)=S_{ij}(r)τ(r,t)$ where $S_{ij}(r)$ is the structure-function tensor and $τ(r,t)$ is an effective correlation time of velocity increments. This is found to be the minimum value of three times: the intrinsic turnover time $τ_{eddy}(r)$ at separation $r$, the overall evolution time $t,$ and the sweeping time $r/v_0$ with $v_0$ the rms velocity. We study the diffusion model numerically by a Monte Carlo method. With moderate inertial-ranges like those achieved in current KS, our model is found to reproduce the $t^{9/2}$ power-law for pair dispersion predicted by TD and observed in the KS. However, for much longer ranges, our model exhibits three distinct pair-dispersion laws in the inertial-range: a Batchelor $t^2$-regime, followed by a $t^1$ diffusive regime, and then a $t^6$ regime. Finally, outside the inertial-range, there is another $t^1$ regime with particles undergoing independent Taylor diffusion. These scalings are exactly the same as those predicted by TD for KS with large mean velocities, which we argue hold also for KS with zero mean velocity. Our results support the basic conclusion that sweeping effects make Lagrangian properties of KS fundamentally different from hydrodynamic turbulence for very extended inertial-ranges.

physics.flu-dyn↗