Kolmogorov cascade and equipartition of kinetic energy in numerical simulation of Superfluid turbulence

Julien Salort (1) , Emmanuel Lévêque (2) , Philippe-Emmanuel Roche (1)

1 NEEL - HELFA - Hélium : du fondamental aux applications
2 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon

The turbulence of a superfluid is investigated by direct numerical simulations at finite temperature and high Reynolds numbers using the continuous model. The superfluid component is described by the Euler equation while the normal fluid component is described by the Navier-Stokes equation, both being coupled by mutual friction. In the high temperature limit, the Kolmogorov cascade is recovered, as expected from previous numerical and experimental studies. As the temperature decreases, the Kolmogorov cascade remains present at large scales while, at small scales, the system evolves towards a statistical equipartition of kinetic energy among spectral modes.

Domaines: Autre [cond-mat.other]; Dynamique des Fluides [physics.flu-dyn]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Julien Salort, Emmanuel Lévêque, Philippe-Emmanuel Roche. Kolmogorov cascade and equipartition of kinetic energy in numerical simulation of Superfluid turbulence. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2011, 318, pp.092031. ⟨10.1088/1742-6596/318/9/092031⟩. ⟨hal-00640533⟩