Statistics of finite scale local Lyapunov exponents in fully developed homogeneous isotropic turbulence

The present work analyzes the statistics of finite scale local Lyapunov exponents of pairs of fluid particles trajectories in fully developed incompressible homogeneous isotropic turbulence. According to the hypothesis of fully developed chaos, this statistics is here analyzed assuming that the entropy associated to the fluid kinematic state is maximum. The distribution of the local Lyapunov exponents results to be an unsymmetrical uniform function in a proper interval of variation. From this PDF, we determine the relationship between average and maximum Lyapunov exponents, and the longitudinal velocity correlation function. This link, which in turn leads to the closure of von K\`arm\`an-Howarth and Corrsin equations, agrees with results of previous works, supporting the proposed PDF calculation, at least for the purposes of the energy cascade main effect estimation. Furthermore, through the property that the Lyapunov vectors tend to align the direction of the maximum growth rate of trajectories distance, we obtain the link between maximum and average Lyapunov exponents in line with the previous results. To validate the proposed theoretical results, we present different numerical simulations whose results justify the hypotheses of the present analysis.Comment: Research article. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1706.0097

Refinement of a previous hypothesis of the Lyapunov analysis of isotropic turbulence

The purpose of this brief comunication is to improve a hypothesis of the previous work of the author (de Divitiis, Theor Comput Fluid Dyn, doi:10.1007/s00162-010-0211-9) dealing with the finite--scale Lyapunov analysis of isotropic turbulence. There, the analytical expression of the structure function of the longitudinal velocity difference $\Delta u_r$ is derived through a statistical analysis of the Fourier transformed Navier-Stokes equations, and by means of considerations regarding the scales of the velocity fluctuations, which arise from the Kolmogorov theory. Due to these latter considerations, this Lyapunov analysis seems to need some of the results of the Kolmogorov theory. This work proposes a more rigorous demonstration which leads to the same structure function, without using the Kolmogorov scale. This proof assumes that pair and triple longitudinal correlations are sufficient to determine the statistics of $\Delta u_r$, and adopts a reasonable canonical decomposition of the velocity difference in terms of proper stochastic variables which are adequate to describe the mechanism of kinetic energy cascade.Comment: 6 page

Bifurcations analysis of turbulent energy cascade

This note studies the mechanism of turbulent energy cascade through an opportune bifurcations analysis of the Navier--Stokes equations, and furnishes explanations on the more significant characteristics of the turbulence. A statistical bifurcations property of the Navier--Stokes equations in fully developed turbulence is proposed, and a spatial representation of the bifurcations is presented, which is based on a proper definition of the fixed points of the velocity field. The analysis first shows that the local deformation can be much more rapid than the fluid state variables, then explains the mechanism of energy cascade through the aforementioned property of the bifurcations, and gives reasonable argumentation of the fact that the bifurcations cascade can be expressed in terms of length scales. Furthermore, the study analyzes the characteristic length scales at the transition through global properties of the bifurcations, and estimates the order of magnitude of the critical Taylor--scale Reynolds number and the number of bifurcations at the onset of turbulence.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, available online Annals of Physics, 201

Statistical Lyapunov theory based on bifurcation analysis of energy cascade in isotropic homogeneous turbulence: a physical -- mathematical review

This work presents a review of previous articles dealing with an original turbulence theory proposed by the author, and provides new theoretical insights into some related issues. The new theoretical procedures and methodological approaches confirm and corroborate the previous results. These articles study the regime of homogeneous isotropic turbulence for incompressible fluids and propose theoretical approaches based on a specific Lyapunov theory for determining the closures of the von K\'arm\'an-Howarth and Corrsin equations, and the statistics of velocity and temperature difference. Furthermore, novel theoretical issues are here presented among which we can mention the following ones. The bifurcation rate of the velocity gradient, calculated along fluid particles trajectories, is shown to be much larger than the corresponding maximal Lyapunov exponent. On that basis, an interpretation of the energy cascade phenomenon is given and the statistics of finite time Lyapunov exponent of the velocity gradient is shown to be represented by normal distribution functions. Next, the self--similarity produced by the proposed closures is analyzed, and a proper bifurcation analysis of the closed von K\'arm\'an--Howarth equation is performed. This latter investigates the route from developed turbulence toward the non--chaotic regimes, leading to an estimate of the critical Taylor scale Reynolds number. A proper statistical decomposition based on extended distribution functions and on the Navier--Stokes equations is presented, which leads to the statistics of velocity and temperature difference.Comment: physical--mathematical review of previous works and new theoretical insights into some relates issue