Applications of the new symmetries of the multi-point correlation equations

Abstract

We presently show that the infinite set of multi-point correlation equations, which are direct statistical consequences of the Navier-Stokes equations, admit a rather large set of Lie symmetry groups. Additional to the symmetries stemming from the Navier-Stokes equations a new scaling group and translational groups of the correlation vectors and all independent variables have been discovered. These new statistical groups have important consequences on our understanding of turbulent scaling laws. Exemplarily, we consider one of the key foundations of statistical turbulence theory, the universal law of the wall, and show that the log-law fundamentally relies on one of the new translational groups. Furthermore, we present rotating channel flows, where different rotational axes result in very different scaling laws.