Single particle Lagrangian dispersion in Bolgiano turbulence

Abstract

Single-particle dispersion in the Bolgiano--Obukhov regime of two-dimensional turbulent convection is investigated. Unlike dispersion in a flow displaying the classical K41 phenomenology, here, the leading contribution to the Lagrangian velocity fluctuations is given by the largest eddies. This implies a linear behavior in time for a typical velocity fluctuation in the time interval $t$. The contribution to the Lagrangian velocity fluctuations of local eddies (i.e. with a characteristic time of order $t$), whose space/time scalings are ruled by the Bolgiano--Obukhov theory, is thus not detectable by standard Lagrangian statistical observables. To disentangle contributions arising from the large eddies from those of local eddies, a strategy based on exit-time statistics has successfully been exploited. Lagrangian velocity increments in Bolgiano convection thus provide a physically relevant example of signal with \emph{more than smooth} fluctuations.