Is Turbulence as Simple as Tossing a Coin?

Abstract

A large variety of problems in statistical physics use a Gaussian distribution as a starting point. For the problem of intermittency in fluid turbulence, the Gaussian approximation is not a useful beginning. We find that the Cramer's rate function in the theory of large deviations as used in a simple coin toss is a promising starting point for giving an account of intermittency. In addition, it offers another view of Jarzynski equality.