Exact scaling laws in isotropic binary fluid turbulence

TL;DR

This paper derives and verifies exact scaling laws for isotropic binary fluid turbulence using tensor formalism, revealing contributions from both bulk flow and interfaces, and compares cascade rates across different laws.

Contribution

The authors derive the first exact scaling laws for isotropic binary fluid turbulence, extending classical turbulence laws to include interface effects and verify them numerically.

Findings

Exact laws for binary fluid turbulence analogous to Kolmogorov laws are derived.

Numerical verification confirms the validity of the derived scaling laws.

Cascade rates vary with scale, shifting towards larger scales with flatter profiles.

Abstract

Binary fluid turbulence distinguishes itself from ordinary fluid turbulence by virtue of interfacial dynamics. Whether Kolmogorov-like scaling laws also exist for binary fluid turbulence is a fundamental question to explore. Starting from tensor formalism \`a la von K\'arm\'an and Howarth, here we derive exact scaling laws for isotropic Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes (CHNS) turbulence both in terms of two point correlators and increments. In particular, we derive the CHNS analogs for $1/3$, $4/3$, $2/15$ and $4/5$ laws known for isotropic hydrodynamic turbulence and show that the new scaling laws contain contributions both from the bulk flow and interface. The $2/15$ and $4/5$ laws of CHNS turbulence are found to be expressed purely in terms of two-point correlators and structure functions and their derivatives, respectively. However, unlike their hydrodynamic counterparts, these relations involve additional contributions from non-longitudinal directions. By means of direct numerical simulations with up to $1024^3$ grid points, all the derived exact laws are numerically verified and the scale dependence of the cascade rates obtained from different exact laws are thoroughly compared. As one moves from the homogeneous (but not necessarily isotropic) divergence form to the isotropic $4/5$ form, the inertial range is found to shift towards larger scales with a comparatively flatter cascade rate profile as a result of successive integrations over the small scales.