Forward and inverse energy cascade and fluctuation relation in fluid turbulence adhere to Kolmogorov's refined similarity hypothesis

Abstract

We study fluctuations of the local energy cascade rate $Φ_\ell$ in turbulent flows at scales ($\ell$) in the inertial range. According to the Kolmogorov refined similarity hypothesis (KRSH), relevant statistical properties of $Φ_\ell$ should depend on $ε_\ell$, the viscous dissipation rate locally averaged over a sphere of size $\ell$, rather than on the global average dissipation. However, the validity of KRSH applied to $Φ_\ell$ has not yet been tested from data. Conditional averages such as $\langle Φ_\ell|ε_{\ell}\rangle$ as well as of higher-order moments are measured from Direct Numerical Simulations data, and results clearly adhere to the predictions from KRSH. Remarkably, the same is true when considering forward ($Φ_\ell>0$) and inverse ($Φ_\ell<0$) cascade events separately. Measured ratios of forward and inverse cascade probability densities further show that a fluctuation relation adhering to the KRSH can be observed, raising the hope that important features of turbulence may be described using concepts from non-equilibrium thermodynamics.