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Fractal Iso-Contours of Passive Scalar in Two-Dimensional Smooth Random Flows

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Abstract

A passive scalar field was studied under the action of pumping, diffusion and advection by a 2D smooth flow with Lagrangian chaos. We present theoretical arguments showing that the scalar statistics are not conformally invariant and formulate a new effective semi-analytic algorithm to model scalar turbulence. We then carry out massive numerics of scalar turbulence, focusing on nodal lines. The distribution of contours over sizes and perimeters is shown to depend neither on the flow realization nor on the resolution (diffusion) scale r d for scales exceeding r d . The scalar isolines are found to be fractal/smooth at scales larger/smaller than the pumping scale. We characterize the statistics of isoline bending by the driving function of the Löwner map. That function is found to behave like diffusion with diffusivity independent of the resolution yet, most surprisingly, dependent on the velocity realization and time (beyond the time on which the statistics of the scalar is stabilized).

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the NSF grant PHY05-51164 at KITP, and by the grants of BSF, ISF and Minerva foundation at the Weizmann Institute. We benefited from discussions with I. Binder, G. Boffetta, D. Dolgopyat, A. Celani, K. Khanin, J.P. Eckmann, S. Smirnov and C. Connaughton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY, 10012-1185, USA

    Marija Vucelja

  2. Department of Physics of Complex Systems, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 76100, Israel

    Gregory Falkovich

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Konstantin S. Turitsyn

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  1. Marija Vucelja
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  2. Gregory Falkovich
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  3. Konstantin S. Turitsyn
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Correspondence to Marija Vucelja.

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Vucelja, M., Falkovich, G. & Turitsyn, K.S. Fractal Iso-Contours of Passive Scalar in Two-Dimensional Smooth Random Flows. J Stat Phys 147, 424–435 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-012-0474-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-012-0474-1

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