Generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation as a model for turbulence, collapse, and inverse cascade

Collapse, decay, and single-|k| turbulence from a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation

Turbulence governed by a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation (GNSE) including viscous heating and nonlinear damping is numerically investigated. It is found that a large localized pulse can suffer modulational instability and then collapse into the shortest-wavelength modes, as for the classical nonlinear Schrödinger equation. However, the total energy of the nonconservative GNSE can also become constant during the collapse via local balance of energy gain and loss in the phase space. After the collapse, instead of inverse cascading into a state of strong turbulence with broad spectrum, a single-step cascade, or condensation, into modes of one predominant wavelength can occur. In fact, after attaining total energy balance the turbulent system as a whole evolves like a closed adiabatic system.