Connecting coherent structures and strange attractors

Abstract

A concept of turbulence derived from nonlinear dynamical systems theory suggests that turbulent solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations are restricted to strange attractors, and, by implication, that turbulent phenomenology must find some expression or source in the structure of these mathematical objects. Examples and discussions are presented to link coherent structures to some of the commonly known characteristics of strange attractors. Basic to this link is a geometric interpretation of conditional sampling techniques employed to educe coherent structures that offers an explanation for their appearance in measurements as well as their size.