Molecular Origins of Turbulence

Abstract

The twin problems of closure and dissipation have been barriers to the analytical solution of the Navier–Stokes equation for fluid flow by top-down methods for two centuries. Here, the statistical multifractal analysis of airborne observations is used to argue that bottom-up approaches based on the dynamic behaviour of the basic constituent particles are necessary. Contrasts among differing systems will yield scale invariant turbulence, but not with universal analytical solutions to the Navier–Stokes equation. The small number of publications regarding a molecular origin for turbulence are briefly considered. Research approaches using suitable observations are recommended.

Keywords

• molecules
• turbulence
• scale invariance
• intermittency