Topological Entropy of Stationary Turbulent Flows

Abstract: Topological entropy serves as a viable candidate for quantifying mixing and complexity of a highly chaotic system. Particularly in turbulence, this is determined as the exponential stretching rate of a fluid material line that typically necessitates a Lagrangian description. We extend the recent work [A. Manoharan, S. Subramanian, and A. Joy, arXiv:2412.08996] to three dimensions, and present an exact Eulerian framework for the topological entropy in stationary turbulent flows that is devoid of free parameters. The only prerequisite is a distribution of eigenvalues of the local strain-rate tensor and their decorrelation times. This can be easily obtained from a single wire probe at a fixed location, thereby eliminating the need for Lagrangian particle tracking, which remains formidable due to chaotic nature of the flow. We believe that our results lend great utility in experiments aimed at understanding transport and mixing in many industrial and natural flows.