Self-regulating turbulence

TL;DR

This paper introduces a revised turbulence theory incorporating active information exchange between scales, challenging classical Kolmogorov physics and validated through simulations and literature data.

Contribution

It proposes a new turbulence cascade model with active scale interactions, extending classical theory and providing testable predictions for turbulence characteristics.

Findings

New turbulence cascade model with active information exchange.

Predictions for dissipation rate, length scale, and kinetic energy.

Validation through large-scale simulations and literature data.

Abstract

A landmark of out-of-equilibrium physics is Kolmogorov's phenomenological theory of turbulence. However, the past 20 years have provided evidence of a new, universal type of turbulence cascade, which does not abide to Kolmogorov physics. To address this issue, we revise the classical Kolmogorov cascade, by superimposing on it a mechanism of active information exchange between large and small scales. The new theory yields predictions for the dissipation rate, integral length scale and turbulence kinetic energy, as well as a criterion for the transition of the system from the new, to the classical physics in decaying turbulence. The assumptions and predictions are validated using large-scale simulations and data from the literature.