Observation of Kolmogorov turbulence due to multiscale vortices in dusty plasma experiments

TL;DR

This paper reports the experimental detection of fully developed Kolmogorov turbulence in a 3D dusty plasma, characterized by specific spectral scalings and velocity gradient distributions, confirming turbulence theory in plasma systems.

Contribution

First experimental observation of Kolmogorov turbulence in a dusty plasma, demonstrating universal spectral scaling and turbulence features in a 3D dust cloud.

Findings

Observation of -5/3 spectral scaling in spatial and temporal spectra

Confirmation of 2/3 scaling in second-order structure function

Detection of velocity gradient distribution deviations

Abstract

We report the experimental observation of fully developed Kolmogorov turbulence originating from self-excited vortex flows in a three-dimensional (3D) dust cloud. The characteristic -5/3 scaling of three-dimensional Kolmogorov turbulence is universally observed in both the spatial and temporal power spectra. Additionally, the 2/3 scaling in the second-order structure function further confirms the presence of Kolmogorov turbulence. We also identified a slight deviation in the tails of the probability distribution functions for velocity gradients. The dust cloud formed in the diffused region away from the electrode and above the glass device surface in the glow discharge experiments. The dust rotation was observed in multiple experimental campaigns under different discharge conditions at different spatial locations and background plasma environments.