Homogeneous shear turbulence

Abstract

The addition of suitable volume forces to the Navier-Stokes equation allows to simulate flows in the presence of a homogeneous shear. Because of the explicit form of the driving the flows are accessible to rigorous mathematical treatment and to accurate quantitative modelling in their global properties. The statistics of the fluctuations provide insight into generic behaviour of non-equilibrium systems and into the presistence of anisotropies at small scales. Correlation functions can be used to identify dominant large scale dynamical processes that are relevant for most of the momentum transport across the shear. The numerical studies of homogeneous shear flows complement analytical and experimental investigations and contribute to bridging the gap between ideal homogeneous isotropic turbulence and the more realistic heterogeneous turbulence.