Statistical mechanics of 2D turbulence with a prior vorticity distribution

Abstract

We adapt the formalism of the statistical theory of 2D turbulence in the case where the Casimir constraints are replaced by the specification of a prior vorticity distribution. A phenomenological relaxation equation is obtained for the evolution of the coarse-grained vorticity. This equation monotonically increases a generalized entropic functional (determined by the prior) while conserving circulation and energy. It can be used as a thermodynamical parametrization of forced 2D turbulence, or as a numerical algorithm to construct (i) arbitrary statistical equilibrium states in the sense of Ellis-Haven-Turkington (ii) particular statistical equilibrium states in the sense of Miller-Robert-Sommeria (iii) arbitrary stationary solutions of the 2D Euler equation that are formally nonlinearly dynamically stable according to the Ellis-Haven-Turkington stability criterion refining the Arnold theorems.