Recent progress on the anomalous scaling in models of turbulent heat and mass transport is reviewed with the emphasis on the approach based on the field-theoretic renormalization group (RG) and operator product expansion (OPE). In that approach, the anomalous scaling is established as a consequence of the existence in the corresponding field-theoretic models of an infinite number of 'dangerous' composite fields (operators) with negative critical dimensions, which are identified with the anomalous exponents. This allows one to calculate the exponents in a systematic perturbation expansion, similar to the ε expansion in the theory of critical phenomena. The RG and OPE approach is presented in a self-contained way for the example of a passive scalar field (temperature, concentration of an impurity, etc) advected by a self-similar Gaussian velocity ensemble with vanishing correlation time, the so-called Kraichnan's rapid-change model, where the anomalous exponents are known up to order O(ε3). Effects of anisotropy, compressibility and the correlation time of the velocity field are discussed. Passive advection by non-Gaussian velocity field governed by the stochastic Navier-Stokes equation and passively advected vector (e.g. magnetic) fields are considered.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberS04
Pages (from-to)7825-7865
Number of pages41
JournalJournal of Physics A: Mathematical and General
Volume39
Issue number25
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Jun 2006

    Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Mathematical Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy(all)

ID: 86531521