Search

We report on a combined theoretical and numerical study of counterflow turbulence in superfluid $^{4}$He in a wide range of parameters. The energy spectra of the velocity fluctuations of both the normal-fluid and superfluid components are strongly anisotropic. The angular dependence of the correlation between velocity fluctuations of the two components plays the key role. A selective energy dissipation intensifies as scales decrease, with the streamwise velocity fluctuations becoming dominant. Most of the flow energy is concentrated in a wavevector plane which is orthogonal to the direction of the counterflow. The phenomenon becomes more prominent at higher temperatures as the coupling between the components depends on the temperature and the direction with respect to the counterflow velocity., Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures

Three-dimensional anisotropic turbulence in classical fluids tends towards isotropy and homogeneity with decreasing scales, allowing --eventually-- the abstract model of "isotropic homogeneous turbulence" to be relevant. We show here that the opposite is true for superfluid $^4$He turbulence in 3-dimensional counterflow channel geometry. This flow becomes less isotropic upon decreasing scales, becoming eventually quasi 2-dimensional. The physical reason for this unusual phenomenon is elucidated and supported by theory and simulations., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

The large scale turbulent statistics of mechanically driven superfluid $^4$He was shown experimentally to follow the classical counterpart. In this paper we use direct numerical simulations to study the whole range of scales in a range of temperatures $T \in[1.3,2.1]$K. The numerics employ self-consistent and non-linearly coupled normal and superfluid components. The main results are that (i) the velocity fluctuations of normal and super components are well-correlated in the inertial range of scales, but decorrelate at small scales. (ii) The energy transfer by mutual friction between components is particularly efficient in the temperature range between 1.8K and 2K, leading to enhancement of small scales intermittency for these temperatures. (iii) At low $T$ and close to $T_{\lambda}$ the scaling properties of the energy spectra and structure functions of the two components are approaching those of classical hydrodynamic turbulence., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

Describing superfluid turbulence at intermediate scales between the inter-vortex distance and the macroscale requires an acceptable equation of motion for the density of quantized vortex lines $\cal{L}$. The closure of such an equation for superfluid inhomogeneous flows requires additional inputs besides $\cal{L}$ and the normal and superfluid velocity fields. In this paper we offer a minimal closure using one additional anisotropy parameter $I_{l0}$. Using the example of counterflow superfluid turbulence we derive two coupled closure equations for the vortex line density and the anisotropy parameter $I_{l0}$ with an input of the normal and superfluid velocity fields. The various closure assumptions and the predictions of the resulting theory are tested against numerical simulations., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Below the phase transition temperature $Tc \simeq 10^{-3}$K He-3B has a mixture of normal and superfluid components. Turbulence in this material is carried predominantly by the superfluid component. We explore the statistical properties of this quantum turbulence, stressing the differences from the better known classical counterpart. To this aim we study the time-honored Hall-Vinen-Bekarevich-Khalatnikov coarse-grained equations of superfluid turbulence. We combine pseudo-spectral direct numerical simulations with analytic considerations based on an integral closure for the energy flux. We avoid the assumption of locality of the energy transfer which was used previously in both analytic and numerical studies of the superfluid He-3B turbulence. For T<0.37 Tc, with relatively weak mutual friction, we confirm the previously found "subcritical" energy spectrum E(k), given by a superposition of two power laws that can be approximated as $E(k)~ k^{-x}$ with an apparent scaling exponent 5/3 0.37 Tc and with strong mutual friction, we observed numerically and confirmed analytically the scale-invariant spectrum $E(k)~ k^{-x}$ with a (k-independent) exponent x > 3 that gradually increases with the temperature and reaches a value $x\simeq 9$ for $T\approx 0.72 Tc$. In the near-critical regimes we discover a strong enhancement of intermittency which exceeds by an order of magnitude the corresponding level in classical hydrodynamic turbulence., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures

This is a Reply to Nemirovskii Comment [Phys. Rev. B 94, 146501 (2016)] on the Khomenko et al, [Phys.Rev. B v.91, 180504(2016)], in which a new form of the production term in Vinen's equation for the evolution of the vortex-line density $\cal L$ in the thermal counterflow of superfluid $^4$He in a channel was suggested. To further substantiate the suggested form which was questioned in the Comment, we present a physical explanation for the improvement of the closure suggested in Khomenko et al [Phys.Rev. B v. 91, 180504(2016)] in comparison to the form proposed by Vinen. We also discuss the closure for the flux term, which agrees well with the numerical results without any fitting parameters., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

In classical turbulence the kinematic viscosity $\nu$ is involved in two phenomena. The first is the energy dissipation and the second is the mechanical momentum flux toward the wall. In superfluid turbulence the mechanism of energy dissipation is different, and it is determined by an effective viscosity which was introduced by Vinen and is denoted as $\nu'$. In this paper we show that in superfluid turbulence the transfer of mechanical momentum to the wall is caused by the presence of a quantum vortex tangle, giving rise to another effective "momentum" viscosity that we will denote as $\nu_\text{m}(T)$. The temperature dependence of the second effective viscosity is markedly different from Vinen's effective viscosity $\nu'(T)$. We show that the notion of vortex-tension force, playing an important role in the theory of quantum turbulence, can be understood as the gradient of the Reynolds stress tensor which is in fact determined by the second newly defined kinematic viscosity $\nu_\text{m}(T)$.

The quantization of vortex lines in superfluids requires the introduction of their density $\C L(\B r,t)$ in the description of quantum turbulence. The space homogeneous balance equation for $\C L(t)$, proposed by Vinen on the basis of dimensional and physical considerations, allows a number of competing forms for the production term $\C P$. Attempts to choose the correct one on the basis of time-dependent homogeneous experiments ended inconclusively. To overcome this difficulty we announce here an approach that employs an inhomogeneous channel flow which is excellently suitable to distinguish the implications of the various possible forms of the desired equation. We demonstrate that the originally selected form which was extensively used in the literature is in strong contradiction with our data. We therefore present a new inhomogeneous equation for $\C L(\B r,t)$ that is in agreement with our data and propose that it should be considered for further studies of superfluid turbulence., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figs, PRB submitted

We present a comprehensive statistical study of free decay of the quantized vortex tangle in superfluid $^4$He at low and ultra-low temperatures, $0\leqslant T \leqslant 1.1\,$K. Using high resolution vortex filament simulations with full Biot-Savart vortex dynamics, we show that for ultra-low temperatures $T\lesssim 0.5 \,$K, when the mutual friction parameters $\alpha\simeq \alpha' < 10^{-5}$, the vortex reconnections excite Kelvin waves with wave lengths $\lambda$ of the order of the inter-vortex distance $\ell$. These excitations cascade down to the resolution scale $\Delta\xi$ which in our simulations is of the order $\Delta \xi\sim \ell/100$. At this scale the Kelvin waves are numerically damped by a line-smoothing procedure, that is supposed to mimic the dissipation of Kelvin waves by phonon and roton emission at the scale of the vortex core. We show that the Kelvin waves cascade is statistically important: the shortest available Kelvin waves at the end of the cascade determine the mean vortex line curvature $S$, giving $S \gtrsim 30 /\ell$ and play major role in the tangle decay at ultra-low temperatures below $0.6\,$K. The found dependence of $\ell S$ on the resolution scale $\Delta \xi$ agrees with the L'vov-Nazarenko energy spectrum of weakly-interacting Kelvin waves, $E\Sb{LN}\propto k^{-5/3}$ rather than the spectrum $E\Sb{LN}\propto k^{-1}$, suggested by Vinen for turbulence of Kelvin waves with large amplitudes. We also show that already at $T=0.8\,$K, when $\alpha$ and $\alpha'$ are still very low, $\alpha\simeq \alpha'<10^{-3}$, the Kelvin wave cascade is fully damped, vortex lines are very smooth, $S \simeq 2 /\ell$ and the tangle decay is predominantly caused by the mutual friction., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figs, PRB in press, Sept. 2014

We employ the full FENE-P model of hydrodynamics of a dilute polymer solutions to derive a theoretical approach to drag reduction in wall bounded turbulence. We recapture the results of a recent simplified theory which derived the universal Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR) asymptote, and complement that theory with a discussion of the cross-over from the MDR to the Newtonian plug when the drag reduction saturates. The FENE-P model gives rise to a rather complex theory due to the interaction of the velocity field with the polymeric conformation tensor, making analytic estimates quite taxing. To overcome this we develop the theory in a computer-assisted manner, checking at each point the analytic estimates by Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of viscoelastic turbulence in a channel., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. submitted to J. Fluid. Mech

We address the velocity fluctuations of fastly moving cracks in stressed materials. One possible mechanism for such fluctuations is the interaction of the main crack with micro cracks (irrespective whether these are existing material defects or they form during the crack evolution). We analyze carefully the dynamics (in 2 space dimensions) of one macro and one micro crack, and demonstrate that their interaction results in a {\em large} and {\em rapid} velocity fluctuation, in qualitative correspondence with typical velocity fluctuations observed in experiments. In developing the theory of the dynamical interaction we invoke an approximation that affords a reduction in mathematical complexity to a simple set of ordinary differential equations for the positions of the cracks tips; we propose that this kind of approximation has a range of usefulness that exceeds the present context., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures

A simple model of the effect of polymer concentration on the amount of drag reduction in turbulence is presented, simulated and analyzed. The qualitative phase diagram of drag coefficient vs. Reynolds number (Re) is recaptured in this model, including the theoretically elusive onset of drag reduction and the Maximum Drag Reduction (MDR) asymptote. The Re-dependent drag and the MDR are analytically explained, and the dependence of the amount of drag on material parameters is rationalized.

We address the statistical theory of fields that are transported by a turbulent velocity field, both in forced and in unforced (decaying) experiments. We propose that with very few provisos on the transporting velocity field, correlation functions of the transported field in the forced case are dominated by statistically preserved structures. In decaying experiments (without forcing the transported fields) we identify infinitely many statistical constants of the motion, which are obtained by projecting the decaying correlation functions on the statistically preserved functions. We exemplify these ideas and provide numerical evidence using a simple model of turbulent transport. This example is chosen for its lack of Lagrangian structure, to stress the generality of the ideas.

We discuss the scaling exponents characterizing the power-law behavior of the anisotropic components of correlation functions in turbulent systems with pressure. The anisotropic components are conveniently labeled by the angular momentum index $\ell$ of the irreducible representation of the SO(3) symmetry group. Such exponents govern the rate of decay of anisotropy with decreasing scales. It is a fundamental question whether they ever increase as $\ell$ increases, or they are bounded from above. The equations of motion in systems with pressure contain nonlocal integrals over all space. One could argue that the requirement of convergence of these integrals bounds the exponents from above. It is shown here on the basis of a solvable model (the ``linear pressure model"), that this is not necessarily the case. The model introduced here is of a passive vector advection by a rapidly varying velocity field. The advected vector field is divergent free and the equation contains a pressure term that maintains this condition. The zero modes of the second-order correlation function are found in all the sectors of the symmetry group. We show that the spectrum of scaling exponents can increase with $\ell$ without bounds, while preserving finite integrals. The conclusion is that contributions from higher and higher anisotropic sectors can disappear faster and faster upon decreasing the scales also in systems with pressure., Comment: 20 pages, 2 EPS figures, RevTeX Replaced with revised version

The problem of anomalous scaling in passive scalar advection, especially with $\delta$-correlated velocity field (the Kraichnan model) has attracted a lot of interest since the exponents can be computed analytically in certain limiting cases. In this paper we focus, rather than on the evaluation of the exponents, on elucidating the {\em physical mechanism} responsible for the anomaly. We show that the anomalous exponents $\zeta_n$ stem from the Lagrangian dynamics of shapes which characterize configurations of n points in space. Using the shape-to-shape transition probability, we define an operator whose eigenvalues determine the anomalous exponents for all n, in all the sectors of the SO(3) symmetry group., Comment: 6 pages, IUTAM simposium, T.Kambe, ed. in press

We address the scaling behavior of the covariance of the magnetic field in the three-dimensional kinematic dynamo problem when the boundary conditions and/or the external forcing are not isotropic. The velocity field is gaussian and $\delta$-correlated in time, and its structure function scales with a positive exponent $\xi$. The covariance of the magnetic field is naturally computed as a sum of contributions proportional to the irreducible representations of the SO(3) symmetry group. The amplitudes are non-universal, determined by boundary conditions. The scaling exponents are universal, forming a discrete, strictly increasing spectrum indexed by the sectors of the symmetry group. When the initial mean magnetic field is zero, no dynamo effect is found, irrespective of the anisotropy of the forcing. The rate of isotropization with decreasing scales is fully understood from these results., Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to PRE

We address scaling in inhomogeneous and anisotropic turbulent flows by decomposing structure functions into their irreducible representation of the SO(3) symmetry group which are designated by $j,m$ indices. Employing simulations of channel flows with Re$_\lambda\approx 70$ we demonstrate that different components characterized by different $j$ display different scaling exponents, but for a given $j$ these remain the same at different distances from the wall. The $j=0$ exponent agrees extremely well with high Re measurements of the scaling exponents, demonstrating the vitality of the SO(3) decomposition., Comment: 4 pages

Kraichnan's model of passive scalar advection in which the driving velocity field has fast temporal decorrelation is studied as a case model for understanding the appearance of anomalous scaling in turbulent systems. We demonstrate how the techniques of renormalized perturbation theory lead (after exact resummations) to equations for the statistical quantities that reveal also non perturbative effects. It is shown that ultraviolet divergences in the diagrammatic expansion translate into anomalous scaling with the inner length acting as the renormalization scale. In this paper we compute analytically the infinite set of anomalous exponents that stem from the ultraviolet divergences. Notwithstanding, non-perturbative effects furnish a possibility of anomalous scaling based on the outer renormalization scale. The mechanism for this intricate behavior is examined and explained in detail. We show that in the language of L'vov, Procaccia and Fairhall [Phys. Rev. E {\bf 50}, 4684 (1994)] the problem is ``critical" i.e. the anomalous exponent of the scalar primary field $\Delta=\Delta_c$. This is precisely the condition that allows for anomalous scaling in the structure functions as well, and we prove that this anomaly must be based on the outer renormalization scale. Finally, we derive the scaling laws that were proposed by Kraichnan for this problem, and show that his scaling exponents are consistent with our theory., Comment: 43 pages, revtex3

A synopsis of an analytical theory of scaling in developed turbulence is proposed on the basis of the Navier-Stokes equations. It is shown that corrections to the normal Kolmogorov 1941 scaling behavior of the $n$-th order velocity structure functions are finite Re effects which disappear when the inertial interval exceeds 5-6 decades. These corrections originate from the correlation between the velocity differences and energy dissipation which are characterized by an anomalous (subcritical) exponent. The values of the experimentally observed scaling indices for the $n$-th order structure functions for $n$ between 4 and 14 are in agreement with our findings., Comment: RevTeX3