{
  "id": "2402.08829",
  "version": "v3",
  "published": "2024-02-13T22:22:02.000Z",
  "updated": "2024-07-02T13:20:15.000Z",
  "title": "Phase transition to turbulence via moving fronts",
  "authors": [
    "Sébastien Gomé",
    "Aliénor Rivière",
    "Laurette S. Tuckerman",
    "Dwight Barkley"
  ],
  "journal": "Phys. Rev. Lett. 132, 264002 (2024)",
  "doi": "10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.264002",
  "categories": [
    "physics.flu-dyn"
  ],
  "abstract": "Directed percolation (DP), a universality class of continuous phase transitions, has recently been established as a possible route to turbulence in subcritical wall-bounded flows. In canonical straight pipe or planar flows, the transition occurs via discrete large-scale turbulent structures, known as puffs in pipe flow or bands in planar flows, which either self-replicate or laminarize. However, these processes might not be universal to all subcritical shear flows. Here, we design a numerical experiment that eliminates discrete structures in plane Couette flow and show that it follows a different, simpler transition scenario: turbulence proliferates via expanding fronts and decays via spontaneous creation of laminar zones. We map this phase transition onto a stochastic one-variable system. The level of turbulent fluctuations dictates whether moving-front transition is discontinuous, or continuous and within the DP universality class, with profound implications for other hydrodynamic systems.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v3",
      "updated": "2024-07-02T13:20:15.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "phase transition",
      "moving fronts",
      "turbulence",
      "planar flows",
      "discrete large-scale turbulent structures"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "publisher": "APS",
      "journal": "Phys. Rev. Lett."
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}