Statistics of velocity fluctuations arising from a random distribution of point vortices: the speed of fluctuations and the diffusion coefficient

Abstract

This paper is devoted to a statistical analysis of the fluctuations of velocity and acceleration produced by a random distribution of point vortices in two-dimensional turbulence. We show that the velocity probability density function PDF behaves in a manner which is intermediate between Gaussian and Levy laws, while the distribution of accelerations is governed by a Cauchy law. Our study accounts properly for a spectrum of circulations among the vortices. In the case of real vortices (with a finite core), we show analytically that the distribution of accelerations makes a smooth transition from Cauchy (for small fluctuations) to Gaussian (for large fluctuations), probably passing through an exponential tail. We introduce a function T(V) which gives the typical duration of a velocity fluctuation V; we show that T(V) behaves like V and V-1 for weak and large velocities, respectively. These results have a simple physical interpretation in the nearest neighbor approximation, and in Smoluchowski theory concerning the persistence of fluctuations. We discuss the analogies with respect to the fluctuations of the gravitational field in stellar systems. As an application of these results, we determine an approximate expression for the diffusion coefficient of point vortices. When applied to the context of freely decaying two-dimensional turbulence, the diffusion becomes anomalous and we establish a relationship nu=1+(xi/2) between the exponent of anomalous diffusion nu and the exponent xi which characterizes the decay of the vortex density.