Exact relationship for third-order structure functions in helical flows

Exact relations for energy transfer in simple and active binary fluid turbulence

Inertial range energy transfer in three-dimensional fully developed binary fluid turbulence is studied under the assumption of statistical homogeneity. Using two-point statistics, exact relations corresponding to the energy cascade are derived in terms of (i) two-point increments and (ii) two-point correlators. Despite having some apparent resemblances, the exact relation in binary fluid turbulence is found to be different from that of the incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence [H. Politano and A. Pouquet, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 273 (1998)]0094-827610.1029/97GL03642. Besides the usual direct cascade of energy, under certain situations, an inverse cascade of energy is also speculated depending upon the strength of the activity parameter and the interplay between the two-point increments of the fluid velocity and the composition gradient fields. An alternative form of the exact relation is also derived in terms of the "upsilon" variables and a subsequent phenomenology is proposed predicting a k^{-3/2} law for the turbulent energy spectrum.

Helical fluid and (Hall)-MHD turbulence: a brief review

Helicity, a measure of the breakage of reflectional symmetry representing the topology of turbulent flows, contributes in a crucial way to their dynamics and to their fundamental statistical properties. We review several of their main features, both new and old, such as the discovery of bi-directional cascades or the role of helical vortices in the enhancement of large-scale magnetic fields in the dynamo problem. The dynamical contribution in magnetohydrodynamic of the cross-correlation between velocity and induction is discussed as well. We consider next how turbulent transport is affected by helical constraints, in particular in the context of magnetic reconnection and fusion plasmas under one- and two-fluid approximations. Central issues on how to construct turbulence models for non-reflectionally symmetric helical flows are reviewed, including in the presence of shear, and we finally briefly mention the possible role of helicity in the development of strongly localized quasi-singular structures at small scale. This article is part of the theme issue 'Scaling the turbulence edifice (part 2)'.

Effect of pressure on joint cascade of kinetic energy and helicity in compressible helical turbulence

Direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional compressible helical turbulence are carried out at a grid resolution of 1024^{3} to investigate the effect of pressure, which is important for the joint cascade of kinetic energy and helicity in compressible helical turbulence. The principal finding is that the pressure term of the helicity equation [defined as Φ^{H}=p∂_{i}(ω_{i}/ρ)] has a smaller effect on the helicity cascade in the aspect of amplitude and a smaller effective range, which leads to a longer inertial subrange of the helicity cascade, in contrast to a kinetic energy cascade. In addition, we also find that the effective range of Φ^{H} is concentrated only in large scales statistically, which is similar to the effect of the pressure term of the kinetic energy equation (defined as Φ^{E}=p∂_{i}u_{i}). From the overall sense of the effect of Φ^{E} and Φ^{H} on the kinetic energy and the helicity, respectively, both of them play a role of dissipation especially in the compression region. We propose that high enough helicity can affect the process of energy transformation between kinetic energy and internal energy, which means that the absolute local helicity hinders the process of kinetic energy transferring to internal energy, and promotes internal energy transferring to kinetic energy. In addition, Φ^{H} plays a source role both for positive and negative helicity. We also study the mechanism of cancellations between compression and rarefaction regions, and we find that the impact of a shocklet on the helicity cascade can be ignored statistically.

von Kármán-Howarth equation for three-dimensional two-fluid plasmas

We derive the von Kármán-Howarth equation for a full three-dimensional incompressible two-fluid plasma. In the long-time limit and for very large Reynolds numbers we obtain the equivalent of the hydrodynamic "four-fifths" law. This exact law predicts the scaling of the third-order two-point correlation functions, and puts a strong constraint on the plasma turbulent dynamics. Finally, we derive a simple expression for the 4/5 law in terms of third-order structure functions, which is appropriate for comparison with in situ measurements in the solar wind at different spatial ranges.

Exact vectorial law for homogeneous rotating turbulence

Three-dimensional hydrodynamic turbulence is investigated under the assumptions of homogeneity and weak axisymmetry. Following the kinematics developed by E. Lindborg [J. Fluid Mech. 302, 179 (1995)] we rewrite the von Kármán-Howarth equation in terms of measurable correlations and derive the exact relation associated with the flux conservation. This relation is then analyzed in the particular case of turbulence subject to solid-body rotation. We make the ansatz that the development of anisotropy implies an algebraic relation between the axial and the radial components of the separation vector r and we derive an exact vectorial law which is parametrized by the intensity of anisotropy. A simple dimensional analysis allows us to fix this parameter and find a unique expression.

Observation of inertial energy cascade in interplanetary space plasma

Direct evidence for the presence of an inertial energy cascade, the most characteristic signature of hydromagnetic turbulence (MHD), is observed in the solar wind by the Ulysses spacecraft. After a brief rederivation of the equivalent of Yaglom's law for MHD turbulence, a linear relation is indeed observed for the scaling of mixed third-order structure functions involving Elsässer variables. This experimental result firmly establishes the turbulent character of low-frequency velocity and magnetic field fluctuations in the solar wind plasma.

von Kármán-Howarth relationship for helical magnetohydrodynamic flows

We derive an exact equation for homogeneous isotropic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent flows with nonzero helicity; this result is of the same nature as the classical von Kármán-Howarth (VKH-HM) formulation for the kinetic energy of turbulent fluids. Helical MHD is relevant to the astrophysical flows such as in the solar corona, or the interstellar medium, and in the dynamo problem. The derivation involves the new writing of the general form of tensors for that case, for either vectors or (pseudo)axial vectors. It is shown that, for general third-order tensors, four generating functions are needed when taking into account the nonmirror invariance of helical fluids, instead of two as in the fully isotropic case. The new equation obtained, denoted by VKH-HM, links the dissipation of magnetic helicity to the third-order correlations involving combinations of the components of the velocity, the magnetic field, and the magnetic potential. Finally, in the long-time and nonresistive limit, this relationship leads to a linear scaling with separation of the third-order tensor, correlating the two normal components of the electromotive force and of the magnetic potential.

Measures of intermittency in driven supersonic flows

Scaling exponents for structure functions of the velocity, density, and entropy are computed for driven supersonic flows for rms Mach numbers of order unity, with numerical simulations using the piecewise parabolic method algorithm on grids of up to 512(3) points. The driving is made up of either one or three orthogonal shear waves. In all cases studied, the compressible component of the velocity in the statistically steady regime is weaker than its solenoidal counterpart by roughly a factor of 6. Exponents for the longitudinal component of the velocity are comparable to what is found in the incompressible case and appear insensitive to the presence of numerous shocks. Scaling exponents of the transverse components of the velocity are comparable to those for the longitudinal component. Density and entropy structure functions display strong departures from linear scaling. Finally, the scaling of structure functions of the energy transfer is also given and compared with the Kolmogorov refined similarity hypothesis.