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Homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT) has been a useful theoretical concept for more than fifty years of theory, modelling, and calculations. Some exact results are revisited in incompressible HIT, with special emphasis on the 4/5 Kolmogorov law. The finite Reynolds number effect (FRN), which yields corrections to that law, is investigated, using both Kármán–Howarth-type equations and a statistical spectral closure of the Eddy-Damped Quasi-Normal Markovian (EDQNM)-type. This discussion offers an opportunity to give an extended review of such spectral closures, from weak turbulence, as in wave turbulence theory, to a strong one. Extensions of the 4/5 or 4/3 Kolmogorov/Monin laws to anisotropic cases, such as stably stratified and MHD turbulence, are briefly touched on. Before addressing more recent work on compressible isotropic turbulence, the simplest case of quasi-incompressible turbulence subjected to externally imposed isotropic compression or dilatation is presented. Rapid distortion theory is found to be a poor model in this isotropic case, in contrast with its relevance in strongly anisotropic flow cases. Accordingly, a fully nonlinear approach based on a rescaling of all fluctuating variables is used, in order to show its interplay with the linear operator. This opens the discussion on the cases of homogeneous incompressible turbulence, where RDT and nonlinear models are relevant, provided that anisotropy is accounted for. Finally, isotropic compressible flows of increasing complexity are considered. Recent studies using weak turbulence theory, modelling, and DNS are discussed. A final unpublished study involves interactions between the solenoidal mode, inherited from incompressible turbulence, and the acoustic and entropic modes, which are specific to the compressible problem. An approach to acoustic wave turbulence, with resonant triads, is revisited on this occasion. Full article

In this work, the two-point probability density function (PDF) for the velocity field of isotropic turbulence is modeled using the kappa distribution and the concept of superstatistics. The PDF consists of a symmetric and an anti-symmetric part, whose symmetry properties follow from the reflection symmetry of isotropic turbulence, and the associated non-trivial conditions are established. The symmetric part is modeled by the kappa distribution. The anti-symmetric part, constructed in the context of superstatistics, is a novel function whose simplest form (called “the minimal model”) is solely dictated by the symmetry conditions. We obtain that the ensemble of eddies of size up to a given length r has a temperature parameter given by the second order structure function and a kappa-index related to the second and the third order structure functions. The latter relationship depends on the inverse temperature parameter (gamma) distribution of the superstatistics and it is not specific to the minimal model. Comparison with data from direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulence shows that our model is applicable within the dissipation subrange of scales. Also, the derived PDF of the velocity gradient shows excellent agreement with the DNS in six orders of magnitude. Future developments, in the context of superstatistics, are also discussed. Full article

This work presents a review of previous articles dealing with an original turbulence theory proposed by the author and provides new theoretical insights into some related issues. The new theoretical procedures and methodological approaches confirm and corroborate the previous results. These articles study the regime of homogeneous isotropic turbulence for incompressible fluids and propose theoretical approaches based on a specific Lyapunov theory for determining the closures of the von Kármán–Howarth and Corrsin equations and the statistics of velocity and temperature difference. While numerous works are present in the literature which concern the closures of the autocorrelation equations in the Fourier domain (i.e., Lin equation closure), few articles deal with the closures of the autocorrelation equations in the physical space. These latter, being based on the eddy–viscosity concept, describe diffusive closure models. On the other hand, the proposed Lyapunov theory leads to nondiffusive closures based on the property that, in turbulence, contiguous fluid particles trajectories continuously diverge. Therefore, the main motivation of this review is to present a theoretical formulation which does not adopt the eddy–viscosity paradigm and summarizes the results of the previous works. Next, this analysis assumes that the current fluid placements, together with velocity and temperature fields, are fluid state variables. This leads to the closures of the autocorrelation equations and helps to interpret the mechanism of energy cascade as due to the continuous divergence of the contiguous trajectories. Furthermore, novel theoretical issues are here presented among which we can mention the following ones. The bifurcation rate of the velocity gradient, calculated along fluid particles trajectories, is shown to be much larger than the corresponding maximal Lyapunov exponent. On that basis, an interpretation of the energy cascade phenomenon is given and the statistics of finite time Lyapunov exponent of the velocity gradient is shown to be represented by normal distribution functions. Next, the self–similarity produced by the proposed closures is analyzed and a proper bifurcation analysis of the closed von Kármán–Howarth equation is performed. This latter investigates the route from developed turbulence toward the non–chaotic regimes, leading to an estimate of the critical Taylor scale Reynolds number. A proper statistical decomposition based on extended distribution functions and on the Navier–Stokes equations is presented, which leads to the statistics of velocity and temperature difference. Full article