The Essence of Turbulence As a Physical Phenomenon : With Emphasis on Issues of Paradigmatic Nature

"This book critically reexamines what turbulence really is, from a fundamental point of view and based on observations from nature, laboratories, and direct numerical simulations. It includes critical assessments and a comparative analysis of the key developments, their evolution and failures, along with key misconceptions and outdated paradigms. The main emphasis is on conceptual and problematic aspects, physical phenomena, observations, misconceptions and unresolved issues rather than on conventional formalistic aspects, models, etc. Apart from the obvious fundamental importance of turbulent flows, this emphasis stems from the basic premise that without corresponding progress in fundamental aspects there is little chance for progress in applications such as drag reduction, mixing, control and modeling of turbulence. More generally, there is also a desperate need to grasp the physical fundamentals of the technological processes in which turbulence plays a central role."--Publisher's description Front Matter....Pages I-XI Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Phenomenon of Turbulence as Distinct from the Problem of Turbulence....Pages 3-8 The Problem of Turbulence as Distinct from the Phenomenon of Turbulence....Pages 9-13 What Equations Describe Turbulence Adequately?....Pages 15-28 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 Origins of Turbulence....Pages 31-35 Nature of Turbulence....Pages 37-51 Additional Issues of Importance Related to the Use of Statistical Methods....Pages 53-64 Front Matter....Pages 65-65 The N’s of Turbulence....Pages 67-83 Large Reynolds Number Behavior, Symmetries, Universality....Pages 85-104 Intermittency and Structure(s) of and/in Turbulence....Pages 105-132 Front Matter....Pages 133-133 On the Status....Pages 135-141 Appendix. Essential Quotations....Pages 143-150 Back Matter....Pages 151-169