Magneto-Fluid Dynamics Seminar

The energy in a turbulent flow can be amplified by compression, while the compression timescale is shorter than the turbulent dissipation time. This effect may play a role in generating or sustaining turbulence in a variety of compressing plasma systems, from inertial confinement fusion experiments to astrophysical molecular clouds. The amount of turbulent amplification is determined by the net effect of the compression and turbulent dissipation. Here I will show a technique for bounding this turbulent dissipation, and therefore the energy behavior in compressing turbulence. I will also discuss the sensitivity of compressing turbulence to the behavior of the viscosity under compression, which is closely related to the bounding technique.