The theory of axisymmetric turbulence

Abstract

Abstract The present paper completes the theory of axisymmetric tensors and forms to the extent that is needed for the development of a theory of turbulence in which symmetry about a certain preferred direction is assumed to exist. Particular attention is given to the manner in which tensors, solenoidal in one or more indices, can be derived, uniquely, in a gauge-invariant way, as the curl of a suitably defined skew tensor. The explicit representation of the fundamental velocity correlation tensor ( ) in terms of two defining scalars is found; and the differential equations governing these scalars is also derived. In the theory of axisymmetric turbulence these latter equations replace the equation of von Karman & Howarth in the theory of isotropic turbulence.