Does Yakhot's growth law for turbulent burning velocity hold?

Abstract

Using formal renormalization theory, Yakhot derived in ([32], 1988) an $O\left(\frac{A}{\sqrt{\log A}}\right)$ growth law of the turbulent flame speed with respect to large flow intensity $A$ based on the inviscid G-equation. Although this growth law is widely cited in combustion literature, there has been no rigorous mathematical discussion to date about its validity. As a first step towards unveiling the mystery, we prove that there is no intermediate growth law between $O\left(\frac{A}{\log A}\right)$ and $O(A)$ for two dimensional incompressible Lipschitz continuous periodic flows with bounded swirl sizes. In particular, we do not assume the non-degeneracy of critical points. Additionally, other examples of flows with lower regularity, Lagrangian chaos, and related phenomena are also discussed.

33 pages, 9 figures. A discussion on the linear growth law and the residual propagation phenomenon has been included in this revised version