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Path Lengths in Turbulence

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Abstract

By tracking tracer particles at high speeds and for long times, we study the geometric statistics of Lagrangian trajectories in an intensely turbulent laboratory flow. In particular, we consider the distinction between the displacement of particles from their initial positions and the total distance they travel. The difference of these two quantities shows power-law scaling in the inertial range. By comparing them with simulations of a chaotic but non-turbulent flow and a Lagrangian Stochastic model, we suggest that our results are a signature of turbulence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Nicholas T. Ouellette

  2. Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Eberhard Bodenschatz & Haitao Xu

  3. Institute for Nonlinear Dynamics, University of Göttingen, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    Eberhard Bodenschatz

  4. Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics and Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Eberhard Bodenschatz

Authors
  1. Nicholas T. Ouellette
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  2. Eberhard Bodenschatz
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  3. Haitao Xu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haitao Xu.

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Ouellette, N.T., Bodenschatz, E. & Xu, H. Path Lengths in Turbulence. J Stat Phys 145, 93 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-011-0323-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10955-011-0323-7

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