Evidence of fractional transport in point-vortex flow

Abstract

Advection properties of passive particles in flows generated by point vortices are considered. Transport properties are anomalous with characteristic transport exponent $\mu \sim 1.5$. This behavior is linked back to the presence of coherent fractal structures within the flow. A fractional kinetic analysis allows to link the characteristic transport exponent $\mu$ to the trapping time exponent $\gamma =1+\mu$. The quantitative agreement is found for different systems of vortices investigated and a clear signature is obtained of the fractional nature of transport in these flows.