Bridging inertial and dissipation range statistics in rotating turbulence

Abstract

We investigate the connection between the inertial range and the dissipation range statistics of rotating turbulence through detailed simulations of a helical shell model and a multifractal analysis. In particular, by using the latter, we find an explicit relation between the (anomalous) scaling exponents of equal-time structure functions in the inertial range in terms of the generalized dimensions associated with the energy dissipation rate. This theoretical prediction is validated by detailed simulations of a helical shell model for various strengths of rotation from where the statistics of the dissipation rate and, thus, the generalized dimensions, as well as the inertial range, in particular, the anomalous scaling exponents, are extracted. Our work also underlines a surprisingly good agreement—such as that in the spatial structure of the energy dissipation rates and the decrease in inertial range intermittency with increasing strengths of rotation—between solutions of the Navier–Stokes equation in a rotating frame with those obtained from low-dimensional, dynamical systems such as the shell model, which are not explicitly anisotropic. Finally, we perform direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equation, with the Coriolis force incorporated, to confirm the robustness of the conclusions drawn from our multifractal and shell model studies.