Statistical mechanics of Beltrami flows in axisymmetric geometry: Equilibria and bifurcations

TL;DR

This paper investigates the equilibrium states of axisymmetric Euler-Beltrami flows, revealing their structure, stability, and bifurcations, and draws parallels with turbulence phenomena, supported by numerical analysis and experimental connections.

Contribution

It characterizes the thermodynamical equilibria of axisymmetric flows, analyzes their stability, and explores bifurcations, bridging 2D and 3D turbulence behaviors.

Findings

Equilibrium states can coexist for a given control parameter.

All states are saddle points of entropy, potentially destabilized by higher wavenumber perturbations.

Robustness of saddle points varies between canonical and microcanonical ensembles.

Abstract

We characterize the thermodynamical equilibrium states of axisymmetric Euler-Beltrami flows. They have the form of coherent structures presenting one or several cells. We find the relevant control parameters and derive the corresponding equations of state. We prove the coexistence of several equilibrium states for a given value of the control parameter like in 2D turbulence [Chavanis and Sommeria, J. Fluid Mech. 314, 267 (1996)]. We explore the stability of these equilibrium states and show that all states are saddle points of entropy and can, in principle, be destabilized by a perturbation with a larger wavenumber, resulting in a structure at the smallest available scale. This mechanism is therefore reminiscent of the 3D Richardson energy cascade towards smaller and smaller scales. Therefore, our system is truly intermediate between 2D turbulence (coherent structures) and 3D turbulence (energy cascade). We further explore numerically the robustness of the equilibrium states with respect to random perturbations using a relaxation algorithm in both canonical and microcanonical ensembles. We show that saddle points of entropy can be very robust and therefore play a role in the dynamics. We evidence differences in the robustness of the solutions in the canonical and microcanonical ensembles. A scenario of bifurcation between two different equilibria (with one or two cells) is proposed and discussed in connection with a recent observation of a turbulent bifurcation in a von Karman experiment [Ravelet et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 164501 (2004)].