2008/02/19 by K. Gustavsson, B. Mehlig, M. Wilkinson +3 · 17 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Aeolian processes and effects #Classical mechanics #Computational physics #Dimensionless quantity #Gas Dynamics and Kinetic Theory #Inertia #Mechanics #Particle Dynamics in Fluid Flows #Physics #Range (aeronautics) #Reynolds number #Stokes number #Turbulence #physics.flu-dyn
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.101.174503
published in Physical Review Letters 101(17), 174503 (American Physical Society) · 4 pages, 2 figures
arxiv created 2008/02/19 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We discuss the relative speeds DeltaV of inertial particles suspended in a highly turbulent gas when the Stokes number, a dimensionless measure of their inertia, is large. We identify a mechanism giving rise to the distribution P(DeltaV) approximately exp(-C|DeltaV|(4/3)) (for some constant C). Our conclusions are supported by numerical simulations, and by the analytical solution of a model equation of motion. The results determine the rate of collisions between suspended particles. They are relevant to the hypothesized mechanism for formation of planets by aggregation of dust particles in circumstellar nebula.