1,409 research outputs found
Lagrangian analysis of alignment dynamics for isentropic compressible magnetohydrodynamics
After a review of the isentropic compressible magnetohydrodynamics (ICMHD)
equations, a quaternionic framework for studying the alignment dynamics of a
general fluid flow is explained and applied to the ICMHD equations.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, submitted to a Focus Issue of New Journal of
Physics on "Magnetohydrodynamics and the Dynamo Problem" J-F Pinton, A
Pouquet, E Dormy and S Cowley, editor
Depletion of Nonlinearity in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence: Insights from Analysis and Simulations
We build on recent developments in the study of fluid turbulence [Gibbon
\textit{et al.} Nonlinearity 27, 2605 (2014)] to define suitably scaled,
order- moments, , of , where
and are, respectively, the vorticity and current density in
three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We show by mathematical analysis,
for unit magnetic Prandtl number , how these moments can be used to
identify three possible regimes for solutions of the MHD equations; these
regimes are specified by inequalities for and . We then
compare our mathematical results with those from our direct numerical
simulations (DNSs) and thus demonstrate that 3D MHD turbulence is like its
fluid-turbulence counterpart insofar as all solutions, which we have
investigated, remain in \textit{only one of these regimes}; this regime has
depleted nonlinearity. We examine the implications of our results for the
exponents that characterize the power-law dependences of the energy
spectra on the wave number , in the inertial range of
scales. We also comment on (a) the generalization of our results to the case
and (b) the relation between and the order- moments
of gradients of hydrodynamic fields, which are used in characterizing
intermittency in turbulent flows.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure
Lagrangian particle paths and ortho-normal quaternion frames
Experimentalists now measure intense rotations of Lagrangian particles in
turbulent flows by tracking their trajectories and Lagrangian-average velocity
gradients at high Reynolds numbers. This paper formulates the dynamics of an
orthonormal frame attached to each Lagrangian fluid particle undergoing
three-axis rotations, by using quaternions in combination with Ertel's theorem
for frozen-in vorticity. The method is applicable to a wide range of Lagrangian
flows including the three-dimensional Euler equations and its variants such as
ideal MHD. The applicability of the quaterionic frame description to Lagrangian
averaged velocity gradient dynamics is also demonstrated.Comment: 9 pages, one figure, revise
Estimates for the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations in terms of the Reynolds number
The tradition in Navier-Stokes analysis of finding estimates in terms of the
Grashof number \bG, whose character depends on the ratio of the forcing to
the viscosity , means that it is difficult to make comparisons with other
results expressed in terms of Reynolds number \Rey, whose character depends
on the fluid response to the forcing. The first task of this paper is to apply
the approach of Doering and Foias \cite{DF} to the two-dimensional
Navier-Stokes equations on a periodic domain by estimating
quantities of physical relevance, particularly long-time averages
\left, in terms of the Reynolds number \Rey = U\ell/\nu, where
U^{2}= L^{-2}\left and is the forcing scale. In
particular, the Constantin-Foias-Temam upper bound \cite{CFT} on the attractor
dimension converts to a_{\ell}^{2}\Rey(1 + \ln\Rey)^{1/3}, while the estimate
for the inverse Kraichnan length is (a_{\ell}^{2}\Rey)^{1/2}, where
is the aspect ratio of the forcing. Other inverse length scales,
based on time averages, and associated with higher derivatives, are estimated
in a similar manner. The second task is to address the issue of intermittency :
it is shown how the time axis is broken up into very short intervals on which
various quantities have lower bounds, larger than long time-averages, which are
themselves interspersed by longer, more quiescent, intervals of time.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication from J. Math. Phys. for
the special issue on mathematical fluid mechanic
Exponentially growing solutions in homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard convection
It is shown that homogeneous Rayleigh-Benard flow, i.e., Rayleigh-Benard
turbulence with periodic boundary conditions in all directions and a volume
forcing of the temperature field by a mean gradient, has a family of exact,
exponentially growing, separable solutions of the full non-linear system of
equations. These solutions are clearly manifest in numerical simulations above
a computable critical value of the Rayleigh number. In our numerical
simulations they are subject to secondary numerical noise and resolution
dependent instabilities that limit their growth to produce statistically steady
turbulent transport.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. E - rapid
communication
Two center multipole expansion method: application to macromolecular systems
We propose a new theoretical method for the calculation of the interaction
energy between macromolecular systems at large distances. The method provides a
linear scaling of the computing time with the system size and is considered as
an alternative to the well known fast multipole method. Its efficiency,
accuracy and applicability to macromolecular systems is analyzed and discussed
in detail.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Blocking by fixed and variable stimuli: effects of stimulus distribution on blocking
An experiment with rats compared the ability of fixed and variable duration cues to produce blocking. Rats in Group B (Blocking) were trained that both fixed- (F) and variable- (V) duration cues would be followed by food delivery. In a subsequent training stage F and V continued to be reinforced, but F was accompanied by X, and V by Y. In the test phase responding to X and Y was examined. Control Group O (Overshadowing) received identical treatment, except that F and V were nonreinforced in the first training stage. In Group B there was evidence for blocking, but only of X which had been conditioned in compound with the fixed-duration F; there was no evidence for blocking of Y, which had been conditioned in compound with the variable duration V. It is suggested that this result may occur because fixed cues reach a higher, more stable asymptote of associative strength than their variable equivalents
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