Closure of two-dimensional turbulence: the role of pressure gradients.

ABSTRACT

Inverse energy cascade regime of two-dimensional turbulence is investigated by means of high resolution numerical simulations. Numerical computations of conditional averages of transverse pressure gradient increments are found to be compatible with a recently proposed self-consistent Gaussian model. An analogous low-order closure model for the longitudinal pressure gradient is proposed and its validity is numerically examined. In this case numerical evidence for the presence of higher-order terms in the closure is found. The fundamental role of conditional statistics between longitudinal and transverse components is highlighted.