Observing a Dynamical Skeleton of Turbulence in Taylor-Couette Flow Experiments

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to detect when turbulent flow mimics recurrent solutions, revealing frequent shadowing in Taylor-Couette experiments, which advances understanding and potential control of turbulence.

Contribution

It presents a novel technique for identifying turbulence shadowing of recurrent solutions in experimental flows, bridging the gap between theory and real-world turbulence observations.

Findings

Frequent shadowing of recurrent solutions in Taylor-Couette flow

Method applicable to both numerical and experimental data

Potential for turbulence forecasting and control

Abstract

Recent work suggests unstable recurrent solutions of the equations governing fluid flow can play an important role in structuring the dynamics of turbulence. Here we present a method for detecting intervals of time where turbulence "shadows" (spatially and temporally mimics) recurrent solutions. We find that shadowing occurs frequently and repeatedly in both numerical and experimental observations of counter-rotating Taylor-Couette flow, despite the relatively small number of known recurrent solutions in this system. Our results set the stage for experimentally-grounded dynamical descriptions of turbulence in a variety of wall-bounded shear flows, enabling applications to forecasting and control.