Theodore Theodorsen - Turbulence Theory

Turbulence Theory

A significant development was his contribution to the structure of turbulence in a paper honoring Ludwig Prandtl’s 75th birthday. The universality of turbulence from microphenomena to astrophysics is well known as for example, the hypothesis that the planets have condensed from a gaseous cloud and that the angular momentum of the solar system is a result of the action of viscosity in the nebula. Turbulence remains as the major unsolved domain of fluid mechanics. Theodorsen identified the main turbulence-creating terms in the equations of motion as (q x curl q . curl curl q); he showed that two-dimensional turbulence cannot exist; that vortex lines stretching and bending is the important mechanism and ingredient of turbulence. He also discussed the hierarchy of vortices (Kolmogorov).

Read more about this topic:  Theodore Theodorsen

Famous quotes containing the words turbulence and/or theory:

    their eyes still fixed, hoping to find once more,
    Being by Calvary’s turbulence unsatisfied,
    The uncontrollable mystery on the bestial floor.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)

    The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
    Karl Marx (1818–1883)