Angular Momentum Transport by Keplerian Turbulence in Liquid Metals.

We report a laboratory study of the transport of angular momentum by a turbulent flow of an electrically conducting fluid confined in a thin disk. When the electromagnetic force applied to the liquid metal is large enough, the corresponding volume injection of angular momentum produces a turbulent flow characterized by a time-averaged Keplerian rotation rate Ω[over ¯]∼r^{-3/2}. Two contributions to the local angular momentum transport are identified: one from the poloidal recirculation induced by the presence of boundaries and the other from turbulent fluctuations in the bulk. The latter produces efficient angular momentum transport independent of the molecular viscosity of the fluid and leads to Kraichnan's prediction Nu_{Ω}∝sqrt[Ta]. In this so-called ultimate regime, the experiment, therefore, provides a configuration analogous to accretion disks, allowing the prediction of accretion rates induced by Keplerian turbulence.

Coherence of Velocity Fluctuations in Turbulent Flows.

We investigate the spatiotemporal quantity of coherence for turbulent velocity fluctuations at spatial distances of the order or larger than the integral length scale l_{0}. Using controlled laboratory experiments, an exponential decay as a function of distance is observed with a decay rate that depends on the flow properties. The same law is observed in two different flows, indicating that it can be a generic property of turbulent flows.

1/f noise and long-term memory of coherent structures in a turbulent shear flow.

A shear flow of liquid metal (Galinstan) is driven in an annular channel by counter-rotating traveling magnetic fields imposed at the end caps. When the traveling velocities are large, the flow is turbulent and its azimuthal component displays random reversals. Power spectra of the velocity field exhibit a 1/f^{α} power law on several decades and are related to power-law probability distributions P(τ)∼τ^{-ß} of the waiting times between successive reversals. This 1/f type spectrum is observed only when the Reynolds number is large enough. In addition, the exponents α and ß are controlled by the symmetry of the system; a continuous transition between two different types of Flicker noise is observed as the equatorial symmetry of the flow is broken, in agreement with theoretical predictions.

Nonlinear saturation of the large scale flow in a laboratory model of the quasibiennial oscillation.

The quasibiennial oscillation (QBO) is the nearly periodic reversal of the large scale flow generated by internal waves in the equatorial stratosphere. Using a laboratory model experiment, we study the instability that generates the QBO and investigate its nonlinear regime. We report the first quantitative measurements of the nonlinearly saturated velocity of the flow. We show that the QBO is generated by a bifurcation that is either supercritical or subcritical depending on the dominant dissipative process. This is confirmed by a nonlinear analysis in the vicinity of the instability threshold.

An instrument for studying granular media in low-gravity environment.

A new experimental facility has been designed and constructed to study driven granular media in a low-gravity environment. This versatile instrument, fully automatized, with a modular design based on several interchangeable experimental cells, allows us to investigate research topics ranging from dilute to dense regimes of granular media such as granular gas, segregation, convection, sound propagation, jamming, and rheology-all without the disturbance by gravitational stresses active on Earth. Here, we present the main parameters, protocols, and performance characteristics of the instrument. The current scientific objectives are then briefly described and, as a proof of concept, some first selected results obtained in low gravity during parabolic flight campaigns are presented.

Statistical Equilibria of Large Scales in Dissipative Hydrodynamic Turbulence.

We present a numerical study of the statistical properties of three-dimensional dissipative turbulent flows at scales larger than the forcing scale. Our results indicate that the large scale flow can be described to a large degree by the truncated Euler equations with the predictions of the zero flux solutions given by absolute equilibrium theory, both for helical and nonhelical flows. Thus, the functional shape of the large scale spectra can be predicted provided that scales sufficiently larger than the forcing length scale but also sufficiently smaller than the box size are examined. Deviations from the predictions of absolute equilibrium are discussed.

Decay rates of magnetic modes below the threshold of a turbulent dynamo.

We measure the decay rates of magnetic field modes in a turbulent flow of liquid sodium below the dynamo threshold. We observe that turbulent fluctuations induce energy transfers between modes with different symmetries (dipolar and quadrupolar). Using symmetry properties, we show how to measure the decay rate of each mode without being restricted to the one with the smallest damping rate. We observe that the respective values of the decay rates of these modes depend on the shape of the propellers driving the flow. Dynamical regimes, including field reversals, are observed only when the modes are both nearly marginal. This is in line with a recently proposed model.

Experimental observation of spatially localized dynamo magnetic fields.

We report the first experimental observation of a spatially localized dynamo magnetic field, a common feature of astrophysical dynamos and convective dynamo simulations. When the two propellers of the von Kármán sodium experiment are driven at frequencies that differ by 15%, the mean magnetic field's energy measured close to the slower disk is nearly 10 times larger than the one close to the faster one. This strong localization of the magnetic field when a symmetry of the forcing is broken is in good agreement with a prediction based on the interaction between a dipolar and a quadrupolar magnetic mode.

Mechanisms for magnetic field reversals.

We present a review of the different models that have been proposed to explain reversals of the magnetic field generated by a turbulent flow of an electrically conducting fluid (fluid dynamos). We then describe a simple mechanism that explains several features observed in palaeomagnetic records of the Earth's magnetic field, in numerical simulations and in a recent dynamo experiment. A similar model can also be used to understand reversals of large-scale flows that often develop on a turbulent background.

Chaotic dynamos generated by a turbulent flow of liquid sodium.

We report the observation of several dynamical regimes of the magnetic field generated by a turbulent flow of liquid sodium (VKS experiment). Stationary dynamos, transitions to relaxation cycles or to intermittent bursts, and random field reversals occur in a fairly small range of parameters. Large scale dynamics of the magnetic field result from the interactions of a few modes. The low dimensional nature of these dynamics is not smeared out by the very strong turbulent fluctuations of the flow.

Observation of intermittency in wave turbulence.

We report the observation of intermittency in gravity-capillary wave turbulence on the surface of mercury. We measure the temporal fluctuations of surface wave amplitude at a given location. We show that the shape of the probability density function of the local slope increments of the surface waves strongly changes across the time scales. The related structure functions and the flatness are found to be power laws of the time scale on more than one decade. The exponents of these power laws increase nonlinearly with the order of the structure function. All these observations show the intermittent nature of the increments of the local slope in wave turbulence. We discuss the possible origin of this intermittency.

Generation of a magnetic field by dynamo action in a turbulent flow of liquid sodium.

We report the observation of dynamo action in the von Kármán sodium experiment, i.e., the generation of a magnetic field by a strongly turbulent swirling flow of liquid sodium. Both mean and fluctuating parts of the field are studied. The dynamo threshold corresponds to a magnetic Reynolds number R(m) approximately 30. A mean magnetic field of the order of 40 G is observed 30% above threshold at the flow lateral boundary. The rms fluctuations are larger than the corresponding mean value for two of the components. The scaling of the mean square magnetic field is compared to a prediction previously made for high Reynolds number flows.

Transport of magnetic field by a turbulent flow of liquid sodium.

We study the effect of a turbulent flow of liquid sodium generated in the von Kármán geometry, on the localized field of a magnet placed close to the frontier of the flow. We observe that the field can be transported by the flow on distances larger than its integral length scale. In the most turbulent configurations, the mean value of the field advected at large distance vanishes. However, the rms value of the fluctuations increases linearly with the magnetic Reynolds number. The advected field is strongly intermittent.

Effect of phase noise on parametric instabilities.

We report an experimental study on the effect of an external phase noise on the parametric amplification of surface waves. We observe that both the instability growth rate and the wave amplitude above the instability onset are decreased in the presence of noise. We show that all the results can be understood with a deterministic amplitude equation for the wave in which the effect of noise is just to change the forcing term. All the data for the growth rate (respectively the wave amplitude), obtained for different forcing amplitudes and different intensities of the noise, can be collapsed on a single curve using this renormalized forcing in the presence of noise.

Scattering of sound by sound in the vicinity of the liquid-vapor critical point.

We report an experimental study of the scattering of sound by sound in the vicinity of the liquid-vapor critical point of carbon dioxide. We measure the amplitude of the scattered difference frequency wave generated by acoustic bulk nonlinearities. We observe that it is strongly increased in the vicinity of the critical point.

Nonlinear magnetic induction by helical motion in a liquid sodium turbulent flow.

We report an experimental study of the magnetic field B--> induced by a turbulent swirling flow of liquid sodium submitted to a transverse magnetic field B-->(0). We show that the induced field can behave nonlinearly as a function of the magnetic Reynolds number, R(m). At low R(m), the induced mean field along the axis of the flow, , and the one parallel to B-->(0), , first behave like R(2)(m), whereas the third component, , is linear in R(m). The sign of is determined by the flow helicity. At higher R(m), B--> strongly depends on the local geometry of the mean flow: decreases to zero in the core of the swirling flow but remains finite outside. We compare the experimental results with the computed magnetic induction due to the mean flow alone.

Noise induced bistability of parametric surface waves.

We report an experimental study on the effect of an external multiplicative noise on a subcritical bifurcation leading to the parametric amplification of surface waves. We show that the probability density function of the wave amplitude in the presence of noise has two maxima that do not correspond to any of the deterministic states. When the deterministic forcing is varied in the presence of noise, these most probable values give two new branches in the bifurcation diagram that involve a much larger difference in oscillation amplitude. The bistable region is also strongly enlarged. This noise induced bistability can be understood in the general framework of noise induced transitions.

Frozen wave induced by high frequency horizontal vibrations on a CO2 liquid-gas interface near the critical point.

We used the liquid-vapor equilibrium of CO2 near its critical point (T(C)-T=1 to 150 mK) in order to study the stability of an interface between a gas and a liquid having close densities rho(L) approximately rho(V) when submitted to high frequency f (3-57.5 Hz) horizontal vibrations (of amplitude a from 0.1 to 2.5 mm). Above a given velocity threshold (2piaf )(0) we observed a "frozen wave," corresponding to an interface profile of sinelike shape which is stationary in the reference frame of the vibrated sample cell. By varying the vibration parameters, the surface tension, and the density difference between the two phases via the temperature, it was found that the wavelength and the amplitude of the stationary profile are both increasing functions of the frequency and of the amplitude of the vibration and that they are proportional to the capillary length. Our measurements are consistent with a model of inviscid and incompressible flow averaging the effect of the vibration over a period and leading to a Kelvin-Helmholtz-like instability mechanism due to the relative motion of the two fluids.