2025/05/08 by Anton Svirsky, Svirsky, Anton, Tobias Grafke +3
Computer Science · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn) #Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows #Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation #Quantum chaos and dynamical systems
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.05075
openalex publication_date 2025/05/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Pipe flow is a canonical example where turbulence first appears intermittently in space and time, taking the form of localized structures termed puffs. Turbulence spreads via puff self-replication, which must out-compete puff decays to sustain it. Here we study the self-replication process, a transition from one to two puffs, using direct numerical simulations. We identify an edge state on the phase space boundary between the two states, demonstrate that it mediates the transition, and show that self-replication follows a previously proposed mechanism, with the edge state as its tipping point.