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Title: Is active turbulence described by universal statistical laws
Plain: Dense bacteria and gels of motor proteins produce chaotic swirling flows even though their inertia is negligible (Reynolds number near zero). Whether these flows obey universal statistical laws, as ordinary turbulence does, is unknown.
Precise: For active nematics and polar active fluids (active nematohydrodynamics, Toner-Tu-Swift-Hohenberg model), determine whether the kinetic-energy spectrum $E(k)$ at scales larger than the active length $\ell_a$ shows power laws independent of parameters and boundary conditions, and whether there is a scale-to-scale energy flux. An answer gives the exponents and their range of validity, and agreement with microtubule-kinesin and bacterial-suspension experiments.
Settled by: A closed theory predicting E(k) and energy fluxes that agrees with simulations of several models and with spectra measured in at least two experimental systems.
Kind: phenomenon
Answer type: classification
References: (empty)
Literature status: contested
Status note: Some active-nematic theories predict universal large-scale spectral scaling (2020), while other models and experiments report parameter-dependent exponents.
Posed since: (empty)