2005/12/10 by Michael K. Rivera, Michael Rivera, Rivera, Michael K. +4
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Oceanographic and Atmospheric Processes #Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) #Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research #cond-mat.soft #cond-mat.stat-mech
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cond-mat/0512214
10 pages, 13 figures
arxiv created 2005/12/10 · openalex publication_date 2005/12/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Measurements of Lagrangian single-point and multiple-point statistics in a quasi-two-dimensional stratifed layer system are reported. The system consists of a layer of salt water over an immiscible layer of Fluorinert and is forced electromagnetically so that mean-squared vorticity is injected at a well-defined spatial scale. Simultaneous cascades develop in which enstrophy flows predominately to small scales whereas energy cascades, on average, to larger scales. Lagrangian velocity correlations and one- and two-point displacements are measured for random initial conditions and for initial positions within topological centers and saddles. The behavior of these quantities can be understood in terms of the trapping characteristics of long-lived centers, the slow motion near strong saddles, and the rapid fluctuations outside of either centers or saddles.