arXiv subjects

Uriel Frisch

Publications and source records attributed to Uriel Frisch.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Extended Self Similarity works for the Burgers equation and why

Extended Self-Similarity (ESS), a procedure that remarkably extends the range of scaling for structure functions in Navier--Stokes turbulence and thus allows improved determination of intermittency exponents, has never been fully explained. We show that ESS applies to Burgers turbulence at high Reynolds numbers and we give the theoretical explanation of the numerically observed improved scaling at both the infrared and ultraviolet end, in total a gain of about three quarters of a decade: there is a reduction of subdominant contributions to scaling when going from the standard structure function representation to the ESS representation. We conjecture that a similar situation holds for three-dimensional incompressible turbulence and suggest ways of capturing subdominant contributions to scaling.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2009

Entire solutions of hydrodynamical equations with exponential dissipation

We consider a modification of the three-dimensional Navier--Stokes equations and other hydrodynamical evolution equations with space-periodic initial conditions in which the usual Laplacian of the dissipation operator is replaced by an operator whose Fourier symbol grows exponentially as $\ue ^{|k|/\kd}$ at high wavenumbers $|k|$. Using estimates in suitable classes of analytic functions, we show that the solutions with initially finite energy become immediately entire in the space variables and that the Fourier coefficients decay faster than $\ue ^{-C(k/\kd) \ln (|k|/\kd)}$ for any $C<1/(2\ln 2)$. The same result holds for the one-dimensional Burgers equation with exponential dissipation but can be improved: heuristic arguments and very precise simulations, analyzed by the method of asymptotic extrapolation of van der Hoeven, indicate that the leading-order asymptotics is precisely of the above form with $C= C_\star =1/\ln2$. The same behavior with a universal constant $C_\star$ is conjectured for the Navier--Stokes equations with exponential dissipation in any space dimension. This universality prevents the strong growth of intermittency in the far dissipation range which is obtained for ordinary Navier--Stokes turbulence. Possible applications to improved spectral simulations are briefly discussed.

math.AP↗

arXiv2008

Hyperviscosity, Galerkin truncation and bottlenecks in turbulence

It is shown that the use of a high power $α$ of the Laplacian in the dissipative term of hydrodynamical equations leads asymptotically to truncated inviscid \textit{conservative} dynamics with a finite range of spatial Fourier modes. Those at large wavenumbers thermalize, whereas modes at small wavenumbers obey ordinary viscous dynamics [C. Cichowlas et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 264502 (2005)]. The energy bottleneck observed for finite $α$ may be interpreted as incomplete thermalization. Artifacts arising from models with $α> 1$ are discussed.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2008

Genesis of d'Alembert's paradox and analytical elaboration of the drag problem

We show that the issue of the drag exerted by an incompressible fluid on a body in uniform motion has played a major role in the early development of fluid dynamics. In 1745 Euler came close, technically, to proving the vanishing of the drag for a body of arbitrary shape; for this he exploited and significantly extended existing ideas on decomposing the flow into thin fillets; he did not however have a correct picture of the global structure of the flow around a body. Borda in 1766 showed that the principle of live forces implied the vanishing of the drag and should thus be inapplicable to the problem. After having at first refused the possibility of a vanishing drag, d'Alembert in 1768 established the paradox, but only for bodies with a head-tail symmetry. A full understanding of the paradox, as due to the neglect of viscous forces, had to wait until the work of Saint-Venant in 1846.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2005

Does multifractal theory of turbulence have logarithms in the scaling relations?

The multifractal theory of turbulence uses a saddle-point evaluation in determining the power-law behaviour of structure functions. Without suitable precautions, this could lead to the presence of logarithmic corrections, thereby violating known exact relations such as the four-fifths law. Using the theory of large deviations applied to the random multiplicative model of turbulence and calculating subdominant terms, we explain here why such corrections cannot be present.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2005

"Locally homogeneous turbulence" Is it an inconsistent framework?

In his first 1941 paper Kolmogorov assumed that the velocity has increments which are homogeneous and independent of the velocity at a suitable reference point. This assumption of local homogeneity is consistent with the nonlinear dynamics only in an asymptotic sense when the reference point is far away. The inconsistency is illustrated numerically using the Burgers equation. Kolmogorov's derivation of the four-fifths law for the third-order structure function and its anisotropic generalization are actually valid only for homogeneous turbulence, but a local version due to Duchon and Robert still holds. A Kolomogorov--Landau approach is proposed to handle the effect of fluctuations in the large-scale velocity on small-scale statistical properties; it is is only a mild extension of the 1941 theory and does not incorporate intermittency effects.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2005

Is Multiscaling an Artifact in the Stochastically Forced Burgers Equation?

We study turbulence in the one-dimensional Burgers equation with a white-in-time, Gaussian random force that has a Fourier-space spectrum $\sim 1/k$, where $k$ is the wave number. From very-high-resolution numerical simulations, in the limit of vanishing viscosity, we find evidence for multiscaling of velocity structure functions which cannot be falsified by standard tests. We find a new artifact in which logarithmic corrections can appear disguised as anomalous scaling and conclude that bifractal scaling is likely.

nlin.CD↗

arXiv2004

Reconstruction of large-scale peculiar velocity fields

A reconstruction method for recovering the initial conditions of the Universe starting from the present galaxy distribution is presented which guarantees uniqueness of solutions. We show how our method can be used to obtain the peculiar velocities of a large number of galaxies, hence trace galaxies orbits back in time and obtain the entire past dynamical history of the Universe above scales where multi-streaming has not occurred. When tested against a 128^3 LambdaCDM simulation in a box of 200 Mpc/h length, we obtain 60% exact reconstruction on scales above 6 Mpc/h. We apply our method to a real galaxy redshift catalogue, the updated NBG (Nearby Galaxies), containing 1483 galaxies, groups and clusters in a radius of 30 Mpc/h, and reconstruct the peculiar velocity fields in the local neighbourhood. Our reconstructed distances are well-matched to the observed values outside the collapsed regions if Omega_m(t)= 0.20 exp(-0.26 (t-13)) where t is the age of the Universe in Gyrs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

A note on the extension of the polar decomposition for the multidimensional Burgers equation

It is shown that the generalizations to more than one space dimension of the pole decomposition for the Burgers equation with finite viscosity and no force are of the form u = -2 viscosity grad log P, where the P's are explicitly known algebraic (or trigonometric) polynomials in the space variables with polynomial (or exponential) dependence on time. Such solutions have polar singularities on complex algebraic varieties.

nlin.SI↗

arXiv2002

A reconstruction of the initial conditions of the Universe by optimal mass transportation

Reconstructing the density fluctuations in the early Universe that evolved into the distribution of galaxies we see today is a challenge of modern cosmology [ref.]. An accurate reconstruction would allow us to test cosmological models by simulating the evolution starting from the reconstructed state and comparing it to the observations. Several reconstruction techniques have been proposed [8 refs.], but they all suffer from lack of uniqueness because the velocities of galaxies are usually not known. Here we show that reconstruction can be reduced to a well-determined problem of optimisation, and present a specific algorithm that provides excellent agreement when tested against data from N-body simulations. By applying our algorithm to the new redshift surveys now under way [ref.], we will be able to recover reliably the properties of the primeval fluctuation field of the local Universe and to determine accurately the peculiar velocities (deviations from the Hubble expansion) and the true positions of many more galaxies than is feasible by any other method. A version of the paper with higher-quality figures is available at http://www.obs-nice.fr/etc7/nature.pdf

astro-ph↗