The Universal Scaling Exponents of Anisotropy in Turbulence and their Measurement

Abstract

The scaling properties of correlation functions of non-scalar fields (constructed from velocity derivatives) in isotropic hydrodynamic turbulence are characterized by a set of universal exponents. It is explained that these exponents also characterize the rate of decay of the effects of anisotropic forcing in developed turbulence. This set has never been measured in either numerical or laboratory experiments. These exponents are important for the general theory of turbulence, but also for modeling anisotropic flows. We propose in this letter how to measure these exponents using existing data bases of direct numerical simulations and by designing new laboratory experiments.