Exciting Frontiers in Fluid Turbulance

Robert Ecke , CNLS Director

Fluid turbulence is ubiquitous in nature and in technology from cars and airplanes to the weather and climate. I will review some of the history of turbulence as an engineering problem and as a challenging problem in fundamental physics. I will discuss how new experimental and numerical developments are allowing for better understanding of the physics of turbulence and how those advances hold promise for making precise calculations of real world problems. I will present work on 2D turbulence that illustrate technical achievements and analysis aimed at understanding mechanisms of turbulent energy transfer. I will also discuss recent work on measuring Lagrangian fluid trajectories in physical systems. I will conclude with some discussion of systems where density differences contribute to turbulent processes.

The P/T Colloquium is
typically held each
Thursday, 3:45–5:00 PM.
Refreshments are served
at 3:15 PM.