Lagrangian structures and the rate of strain in a partition of two-dimensional turbulence

We derive analytic criteria for the existence of hyperbolic (attracting or repelling), elliptic, and parabolic material lines in two-dimensional turbulence. The criteria use a frame-independent Eulerian partition of the physical space that is based on the sign definiteness of the strain acceleration tensor over directions of zero strain. For Navier–Stokes flows, our hyperbolicity criterion can be reformulated in terms of strain, vorticity, pressure, viscous and body forces. The special material lines we identify allow us to locate different kinds of material structures that enhance or suppress finite-time turbulent mixing: stretching and folding lines, Lagrangian vortex cores, and shear jets. We illustrate the use of our criteria on simulations of two-dimensional barotropic turbulence.