Self-regulating turbulence

Abstract

A landmark of out-of-equilibrium physics is Kolmogorov's phenomenological theory of turbulence. However, the past 20 years have provided evidence of a new, universal type of turbulence cascade, which does not abide to Kolmogorov physics. To address this issue, we revise the classical Kolmogorov cascade, by superimposing on it a mechanism of active information exchange between large and small scales. The new theory yields predictions for the dissipation rate, integral length scale and turbulence kinetic energy, as well as a criterion for the transition of the system from the new, to the classical physics in decaying turbulence. The assumptions and predictions are validated using large-scale simulations and data from the literature.