The saturation of exponents and the asymptotic fourth state of turbulence

Abstract

A recent discovery about the inertial range of homogeneous and isotropic turbulence is the saturation of the scaling exponents $\zeta_n$ for large $n$, defined via structure functions of order $n$ as $S_{n}(r)=\overline{(\delta_r u)^{n}}=A(n)r^{\zeta_{n}}$. We focus on longitudinal structure functions for $\delta_r u$ between two positions that are $r$ apart in the same direction. In a previous paper (Phys.\ Rev.\ Fluids 6, 104604, 2021), we developed a theory for $\zeta_n$, which agrees with measurements for all $n$ for which reliable data are available, and shows saturation for large $n$. Here, we derive expressions for the probability density functions of $\delta_r u$ for four different states of turbulence, including the asymptotic fourth state corresponding to the saturation of exponents for large $n$. This saturation means that the scale separation is violated in favor of a strongly-coupled quasi-ordered flow structures, which take the form of long and thin (worm-like) structures of length $L$ and thickness $l=O(L/Re)$.