Large-scale finite-wavelength modulation within turbulent shear flows

Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Jul 1;89(1):014501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.014501. Epub 2002 Jun 14.

Abstract

We show that turbulent "spirals" and "spots" observed in Taylor-Couette and plane Couette flow correspond to a turbulence-intensity modulated finite-wavelength pattern which in every respect fits the phenomenology of coupled noisy Ginzburg-Landau (amplitude) equations with noise. This suggests the existence of a long-wavelength instability of the homogeneous turbulence regime.