With a particle-physics detector. There are two distinct ways to observe fluid flow: In the Eulerian approach, one watches the fluid flow past a specific point in space, whereas in the Lagrangian approach, one follows a specific fluid element as it is carried along. The Lagrangian view is much favored by theorists who model such phenomena as fluid mixing or the dispersal of contaminants, but laboratory data of the Eulerian type have been much easier to obtain. Now, a group at Cornell University led by Eberhard Bodenschatz and Jim Alexander has brokered an experimental marriage between fluid dynamics and particle physics. The physicists modified silicon-strip detectors from Cornell’s electron–positron collider to make them work as optical-imaging elements able to track minute tracer particles being buffeted about in all three dimensions within a turbulent fluid. With that setup, the researchers could track the particles’ positions with 0.7-µm accuracy, at up to...
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
1 May 2001
May 01 2001
Citation
Stephen G. Benka; Watching turbulence. Physics Today 1 May 2001; 54 (5): 9. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4796359
Download citation file:
PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTION
Purchase an annual subscription for $25. A subscription grants you access to all of Physics Today's current and backfile content.
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
31
Views
Citing articles via
The no-cloning theorem
William K. Wootters; Wojciech H. Zurek
Dense crowds follow their own rules
Johanna L. Miller
Focus on software, data acquisition, and instrumentation
Andreas Mandelis