Optimal mixing and optimal stirring for fixed energy, fixed power or fixed palenstrophy flows

We consider passive scalar mixing by a prescribed divergence-free velocity vector field in a periodic box and address the following question: Starting from a given initial inhomogeneous distribution of passive tracers, and given a certain energy budget,power budget or finite palenstrophy budget, what incompressible flow field best mixes the scalar quantity? We focus on the optimal stirring strategy recently proposed byLinet al.(2011), which subsequently determine the flow field that instantaneously optimizes the depletion of the H−1mix-norm. In this work we bridge some of the gap between the best available a priori analysis and simulation results. After recalling some previous analysis we present a new explicit example establishing finite-time perfect mixing with a finite energy constraint on the stirring flow. On the other hand, using techniques pioneered by Yudovich in proving uniqueness of solutions to the 2-d Euler equations, we establish that if the flow is constrained to have constant palenstrophy, then the H−1mix-norm decays at most∼e−ct2. Finite-time perfect mixing is thus certainly ruled out when too much cost is incurred by small scale structures in the stirring. Direct numerical simulations suggest the impossibility of finite-time perfect mixing for flows with fixed power constraint and we conjecture an exponential lower bound on the H−1mix-norm in this case. We also discuss some related problems from other areas of analysis, which are similarly suggestive of an exponential lower bound for the H−1mix-norm

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Work Title Optimal mixing and optimal stirring for fixed energy, fixed power or fixed palenstrophy flows
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Creators
  1. Evelyn Lunasin
  2. Zhi George Lin
  3. Alexei Novikov
  4. Anna Mazzucato
  5. Charles Doering
Keyword
  1. passive scalar advection, mixing with constraints, optimal stirring strategies
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publication Date 2012
Deposited February 24, 2021

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Creator Evelyn Lunasin
  • Added Creator Anna Mazzucato
  • Added Creator Zhi George Lin
  • Updated Creator Anna Mazzucato
  • Added Creator Alexei Novikov
  • Added Creator Charles Doering
  • Added mixing_03252012.pdf
  • Added Corrigendum04232013final.pdf
  • Updated License Show Changes
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    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
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