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Finite-size effects in forced two-dimensional turbulence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Leslie M. Smithr and
Victor Yakhot
Leslie M. Smithr
Affiliation:
Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USAPresent address: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Victor Yakhot
Affiliation:
Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
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Abstract

A new mechanism for the creation of structures in two-dimensional turbulence is investigated. The forced Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically in a periodic square in the limit of zero viscosity. The force is a white-in-time random noise acting in a narrow band of high wavenumbers. The inverse-cascade process and the presence of the boundary lead ultimately to a pile-up of energy in the lowest wavenumber (Bose condensation). In the asymptotic limit where the enstrophy cascade range is negligible, Bose condensation is solely responsible for the generation of coherent vortices and intermittency in the system. We present the evolution of the velocity and vorticity fields through the later stages of the condensate state, and explore the possible implications for atmospheric turbulence constrained by the periodic domain about the earth.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 274 , 10 September 1994, pp. 115 - 138
Copyright
© 1994 Cambridge University Press

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