An Eigenvalue-Based Framework for Constraining Anisotropic Eddy Viscosity

Eddy viscosity is employed throughout the majority of numerical fluid dynamical models, and has been the subject of a vigorous body of research spanning a variety of disciplines. It has long been recognized that the proper description of eddy viscosity uses tensor mathematics, but in practice it is almost always employed as a scalar due to uncertainty about how to constrain the extra degrees of freedom and physical properties of its tensorial form. This manuscript borrows techniques from outside the realm of geophysical fluid dynamics to consider the eddy viscosity tensor using its eigenvalues and eigenvectors, establishing a new framework by which tensorial eddy viscosity can be tested. This is made possible by a careful analysis of an operation called tensor unrolling, which casts the eigenvalue problem for a fourth-order tensor into a more familiar matrix-vector form, whereby it becomes far easier to understand and manipulate. New constraints are established for the eddy viscosity coefficients that are guaranteed to result in energy dissipation, backscatter, or a combination of both. Finally, a testing protocol is developed by which tensorial eddy viscosity can be systematically evaluated across a wide range of fluid regimes. Numerical fluid flow solvers need to dissipate energy in order to remain numerically stable, and this is most often achieved by adding a mechanism to the governing equations called eddy viscosity. Generally the implementation of eddy viscosity boils down to specifying a scalar coefficient that governs the rate of energy dissipation. However, the true mathematical form of eddy viscosity is that of a higher-order geometric object called a tensor, and the potential advantages of using this form remain unexplored. This paper uses a generalized version of familiar linear algebra operations (eigenvalues, trace, and determinant) to establish new constraints on the eddy viscosity coefficients that promise to open up this parameterization to renewed scrutiny. Eddy viscosity is usually employed as a scalar coefficient, but its true form is that of a tensor Eigenanalysis can reveal new constraints on the coefficients of the eddy viscosity tensor Tensor unrolling can help expose the power of the eigenanalysis, but only if done in a particular way