Statistical mechanics and correlation properties of a rotating two-dimensional flow of like-sign vortices
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550 (United States)
The Hamiltonian flow of a set of point vortices of like sign and strength has a low-temperature phase consisting of a rotating triangular lattice of vortices, and a normal temperature turbulent phase consisting of random clusters of vorticity that orbit about a common center along random tracks. The mean-field flow in the normal temperature phase has similarities with turbulent quasi-two-dimensional rotating laboratory and geophysical flows, whereas the low-temperature phase displays effects associated with quantum fluids. In the normal temperature phase the vortices follow power-law clustering distributions, while in the time domain random interval modulation of the vortex orbit radii fluctuations produces singular fractional exponent power-law low-frequency spectra corresponding to time autocorrelation functions with fractional exponent power-law tails. Enhanced diffusion is present in the turbulent state, whereas in the solid-body rotation state vortices thermally diffuse across the lattice. Over the entire temperature range the interaction energy of a single vortex in the field of the rest of the vortices follows positive temperature Fermi--Dirac statistics, with the zero temperature limit corresponding to the rotating crystal phase, and the infinite temperature limit corresponding to a Maxwellian distribution. Analyses of weather records dependent on the large-scale quasi-two-dimensional atmospheric circulation suggest the presence of singular fractional exponent power-law spectra and fractional exponent power-law autocorrelation tails, consistent with the theory.
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6217659
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Fluids A; (United States), Vol. 5:10; ISSN 0899-8213
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
VORTICES
CORRELATION FUNCTIONS
STATISTICAL MECHANICS
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS
FERMI STATISTICS
QUANTUM FLUIDS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TURBULENT FLOW
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
FUNCTIONS
MECHANICS
661300* - Other Aspects of Physical Science- (1992-)