3 research outputs found
The clustering instability of inertial particles spatial distribution in turbulent flows
A theory of clustering of inertial particles advected by a turbulent velocity
field caused by an instability of their spatial distribution is suggested. The
reason for the clustering instability is a combined effect of the particles
inertia and a finite correlation time of the velocity field. The crucial
parameter for the clustering instability is a size of the particles. The
critical size is estimated for a strong clustering (with a finite fraction of
particles in clusters) associated with the growth of the mean absolute value of
the particles number density and for a weak clustering associated with the
growth of the second and higher moments. A new concept of compressibility of
the turbulent diffusion tensor caused by a finite correlation time of an
incompressible velocity field is introduced. In this model of the velocity
field, the field of Lagrangian trajectories is not divergence-free. A mechanism
of saturation of the clustering instability associated with the particles
collisions in the clusters is suggested. Applications of the analyzed effects
to the dynamics of droplets in the turbulent atmosphere are discussed. An
estimated nonlinear level of the saturation of the droplets number density in
clouds exceeds by the orders of magnitude their mean number density. The
critical size of cloud droplets required for clusters formation is more than
m.Comment: REVTeX 4, 15 pages, 2 figures(included), PRE submitte
Current status of turbulent dynamo theory: From large-scale to small-scale dynamos
Several recent advances in turbulent dynamo theory are reviewed. High
resolution simulations of small-scale and large-scale dynamo action in periodic
domains are compared with each other and contrasted with similar results at low
magnetic Prandtl numbers. It is argued that all the different cases show
similarities at intermediate length scales. On the other hand, in the presence
of helicity of the turbulence, power develops on large scales, which is not
present in non-helical small-scale turbulent dynamos. At small length scales,
differences occur in connection with the dissipation cutoff scales associated
with the respective value of the magnetic Prandtl number. These differences are
found to be independent of whether or not there is large-scale dynamo action.
However, large-scale dynamos in homogeneous systems are shown to suffer from
resistive slow-down even at intermediate length scales. The results from
simulations are connected to mean field theory and its applications. Recent
work on helicity fluxes to alleviate large-scale dynamo quenching, shear
dynamos, nonlocal effects and magnetic structures from strong density
stratification are highlighted. Several insights which arise from analytic
considerations of small-scale dynamos are discussed.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures, Spa. Sci. Rev., submitted to the special issue
"Magnetism in the Universe" (ed. A. Balogh