Turbulent particle pair diffusion: A theory based on local and non-local diffusional processes

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 10; p. e0202940
• Main Author: Malik, Nadeem A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 03-10-2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Diffusion; Diffusion coefficient; Diffusion processes; Diffusion theory; Earth Sciences; Energy spectra; Fluids; Kinematics; Physical Sciences; Scaling; Scaling laws; Theory; Saudi Arabia; United States
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202940

A re-appraisal of the Richardson's 1926 dataset [Richardson, L. F. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. A 100, 709-737, (1926)] displays an unequivocal non-local scaling for the pair diffusion coefficient, [Formula: see text], quite different to the previously assumed locality scaling law [Formula: see text], where σl is the pair separation. Consequently, the foundations of turbulent pair diffusion theory are re-examined here and it is shown that pair diffusion is governed by both local and non-local diffusional processess inside the inertial subrange. In the context of generalised energy spectra, E(k) ∼ k-p for 1 < p ≤ 3, the new theory predicts two non-Richardson regimes depending on the size of the inertial subrange: (1) in the limit of asymptotically infinite subrange, non-local scaling laws is obtained, [Formula: see text], with γ intermediate between the purely local and the purely non-local scalings, i.e. (1 + p)/2 < γ ≤ 2; and (2) for finite (short) inertial subrange, local scaling laws are obtained, [Formula: see text]. The theory features a novel mathematical approach expressing the pair diffusion coefficient through a Fourier integral decomposition.