arXiv subjects

K. Schneider

Publications and source records attributed to K. Schneider.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Kinetic Turbulence in Astrophysical Plasmas: Waves and/or Structures?

The question of the relative importance of coherent structures and waves has for a long time attracted a great deal of interest in astrophysical plasma turbulence research, with a more recent focus on kinetic scale dynamics. Here we utilize high-resolution observational and simulation data to investigate the nature of waves and structures emerging in a weakly collisional, turbulent kinetic plasma. Observational results are based on in situ solar wind measurements from the Cluster and MMS spacecraft, and the simulation results are obtained from an externally driven, three-dimensional fully kinetic simulation. Using a set of novel diagnostic measures we show that both the large-amplitude structures and the lower-amplitude background fluctuations preserve linear features of kinetic Alfven waves to order unity. This quantitative evidence suggests that the kinetic turbulence cannot be described as a mixture of mutually exclusive waves and structures but may instead be pictured as an ensemble of localized, anisotropic wave packets or "eddies" of varying amplitudes, which preserve certain linear wave properties during their nonlinear evolution.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2018

Numerical simulation of vortex-induced drag of elastic swimmer models

We present numerical simulations of simplified models for swimming organisms or robots, using chordwise flexible elastic plates. We focus on the tip vortices originating from three-dimensional effects due to the finite span of the plate. These effects play an important role when predicting the swimmer's cruising velocity, since they contribute significantly to the drag force. First we simulate swimmers with rectangular plates of different aspect ratio and compare the results with a recent experimental study. Then we consider plates with expanding and contracting shapes. We find the cruising velocity of the contracting swimmer to be higher than the rectangular one, which in turn is higher than the expanding one. We provide some evidence that this result is due to the tip vortices interacting differently with the swimmer.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2018

Helical vortices generated by flapping wings of bumblebees

High resolution direct numerical simulations of rotating and flapping bumblebee wings are presented and their aerodynamics is studied focusing on the role of leading edge vortices and the associated helicity production. We first study the flow generated by only one rotating bumblebee wing in circular motion with $45^{\circ}$ angle of attack. We then consider a model bumblebee flying in a numerical wind tunnel, which is tethered and has rigid wings flapping with a prescribed generic motion. The inflow condition of the wind varies from laminar to strongly turbulent regimes. Massively parallel simulations show that inflow turbulence does not significantly alter the wings' leading edge vortex (LEV), which enhances lift production. Finally, we focus on studying the helicity of the generated vortices and analyze their contribution at different scales using orthogonal wavelets.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2017

Ion-lithium collision dynamics studied with an in-ring MOTReMi

We present a novel experimental tool allowing for kinematically complete studies of break-up processes of laser-cooled atoms. This apparatus, the 'MOTReMi', is a combination of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and a Reaction Microscope (ReMi). Operated in an ion-storage ring, the new setup enables to study the dynamics in swift ion-atom collisions on an unprecedented level of precision and detail. In first experiments on collisions with 1.5 MeV/amu O$^{8+}$-Li the pure ionization of the valence electron as well as ionization-excitation of the lithium target has been investigated.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2015

Bumblebee flight in heavy turbulence

High-resolution numerical simulations of a tethered model bumblebee in forward flight are performed superimposing homogeneous isotropic turbulent fluctuations to the uniform inflow. Despite tremendous variation in turbulence intensity, between 17% and 99% with respect to the mean flow, we do not find significant changes in cycle-averaged aerodynamic forces, moments or flight power when averaged over realizations, compared to laminar inflow conditions. The variance of aerodynamic measures, however, significantly increases with increasing turbulence intensity, which may explain flight instabilities observed in freely flying bees.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2010

Lagrangian statistics and flow topology in forced two-dimensional turbulence

A study of the relationship between Lagrangian statistics and flow topology in fluid turbulence is presented. The topology is characterized using the Weiss criterion that provides a simplified tool to partition the flow into topologically different regions: elliptic (vortex dominated), hyperbolic (deformation dominated), and intermediate (turbulent background). The flow corresponds to forced two-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence in doubly periodic and circular bounded domains with non-slip boundary conditions. In the double periodic domain, the probability density function (pdf) of the Weiss field exhibits a negative skewness consistent with the fact that in periodic domains the flow is dominated by coherent vortex structures. On the other hand, in the circular domain, the elliptic and hyperbolic regions seem to be statistically similar. We follow a Lagrangian approach and obtain the statistics by tracking large ensembles of passively advected tracers. The pdfs of residence time in the topologically different regions are computed using the Lagrangian Weiss field, i.e., the Weiss field computed along the particles' trajectories. In elliptic and hyperbolic regions, the pdfs of the residence time have self-similar algebraic decaying tails. On the other hand, in the intermediate regions the pdf has exponential decaying tails. The conditional (with respect to the flow topology) pdfs of the Lagrangian velocity exhibit Gaussian behavior in the periodic and in the bounded domains. In contrast to the freely decaying turbulence case, the conditional pdfs of the Lagrangian acceleration in forced turbulence show a comparable level of intermittency in the periodic and the bounded domains. The conditional pdfs of the Lagrangian curvature are characterized, in all cases, by self-similar power law behavior with a decay exponent of order -2.

physics.flu-dyn↗