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When Fluids Misbehave - An Introduction to Turbulent Flows

International Centre for Theoretical Sciences via YouTube

Overview

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Explore the fascinating world of turbulent fluid dynamics in this lecture that demystifies one of nature's most common yet least understood phenomena. Discover why smooth fluid motion quickly transforms into chaotic swirls and eddies when you pour milk into tea, watch smoke rise from a candle, or observe clouds in the sky. Learn how turbulence affects weather prediction accuracy, increases airplane fuel consumption, and enhances mixing efficiency in fluids. Examine the hidden patterns within seemingly chaotic turbulent flows and understand the energy cascade process where large whirls break down into progressively smaller ones. Investigate two major unsolved mysteries in fluid dynamics: the dissipative anomaly, which explains how fluids continue losing energy even when friction disappears, and multiscaling, which describes why turbulence defies simple scaling rules. Gain an intuitive understanding of how turbulent flows operate across different scales and why they represent one of the most beautiful yet mysterious aspects of everyday physics. The presentation demonstrates how fundamental physics concepts apply to common observations while highlighting the ongoing challenges researchers face in fully comprehending turbulent behavior in natural and engineered systems.

Syllabus

When : 4:00 pm to pm Saturday, 31 January 2026

Taught by

International Centre for Theoretical Sciences

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