Strong vorticity fluctuations and antiferromagnetic correlations in axisymmetric fluid equilibria

Abstract

The macroscale structure and microscale fluctuation statistics of late-time asymptotic steady state flows in cylindrical geometries is studied using the methods of equilibrium statistical mechanics. The axisymmetric assumption permits an effective two-dimensional description in terms of the (toroidal) flow field $\sigma$ about the cylinder axis and the vorticity field $\xi$ that generates mixing within the (poloidal) planes of fixed azimuth. As for a number of other 2D fluid systems, extending the classic 2D Euler equation, the flow is constrained by an infinite number of conservation laws, beyond the usual kinetic energy and angular momentum. All must be accounted for in a consistent equilibrium description. It is shown that the most directly observable impact of the conservation laws is on $\sigma$, which displays interesting large-scale radius-dependent flow structure. However, unlike in some previous treatments, we find that the thermodynamic temperature is always positive. As a consequence, except for an infinitesimal boundary layer that maintains the correct (conserved) value of the overall poloidal circulation, the impact on $\xi$ resides in the statistics of the strongly fluctuating, fine-scale mixing, where it is sensitive to `antiferromagnetic' microscale correlations that help maintain the analogue of local charge neutrality. The poloidal flow is macroscopically featureless, displaying no large scale circulating jet- or eddy-like features (which typically emerge as negative temperature states in analogous Euler and quasigeostrophic equilibria).

arXiv comment10 pages, 4 figures

References in corpus (11)

• Statistical mechanics of the shallow water system
• Dynamics and thermodynamics of axisymmetric flows: I. Theory
• Statistical mechanics of Beltrami flows in axisymmetric geometry: Theory reexamined
• On the Late-Time Behaviour of a Bounded, Inviscid Two-Dimensional Flow
• Fluctuation-Dissipation Relations and statistical temperatures in a turbulent von Kármán flow
• Statistical mechanics of the 3D axi-symmetric Euler equations in a Taylor-Couette geometry
• Equilibrium solutions of the shallow water equations
• Statistical mechanics of Beltrami flows in axisymmetric geometry: Equilibria and bifurcations
• Thermodynamics of MHD flows with axial symmetry
• Equilibrium statistical mechanics and energy partition for the shallow water model
• Long-range correlations and coherent structures in magnetohydrodynamic equilibria

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Statistical equilibrium principles in 2D fluid flow: from geophysical fluids to the solar tachocline