Vortex flows as a research area focus on fluid motion characterized by rotational structures, including isolated vortices, vortex sheets, and complex turbulent vortical fields, in gases, liquids, or plasmas. Investigations address the generation, stability, interaction, and breakdown of vortices, as well as vortex-induced transport, mixing, and momentum/energy redistribution. The field combines theoretical fluid mechanics, numerical simulation (e.g., direct numerical simulation and large-eddy simulation), and experimentation to study phenomena such as coherent structures, vortex reconnection, and transition to turbulence, with applications in aerodynamics, propulsion, geophysical and astrophysical flows, and engineering systems where control or exploitation of vorticity is critical.
Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" has stirred the souls of art lovers for over a century. Now, its swirling skies may also speak to physicists, as it echoes the patterns of quantum turbulence.
Quantum Physics
Aug 8, 2025
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Air rings blown by dolphins swimming underwater and rings of smoke emitted by jet engines are just two examples of vortex rings. These doughnut-shaped structures and their mesmerizing movement have been studied for decades ...
General Physics
Jul 22, 2025
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Researchers from the University of Greifswald and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) in Heidelberg (both in Germany) have developed a prototype experimental setup that simulates flow properties using a water tornado ...
Astronomy
Jul 21, 2025
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An international research collaboration featuring scientists from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory has discovered a fundamental universal principle that governs how microscopic ...
Soft Matter
Jun 4, 2025
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The Dutch master Vincent van Gogh may have painted one of Western history's most enduring works, but "The Starry Night" is not a masterpiece of flow physics—despite recent attention to its captivating swirls, according to ...
General Physics
Apr 1, 2025
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511
The collective motion of bacteria—from stable swirling patterns to chaotic turbulent flows—has intrigued scientists for decades. When a bacterial swarm is confined in small circular space, stable rotating vortices are formed. ...
General Physics
Mar 17, 2025
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A team of physicists at Fudan University, working with colleagues from Henan University, both in China, and from Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore and Donostia International Physics Center, in Spain, has developed ...
When humans kick swim through water, vortices form around their legs, generating the force that propels them forward. However, the mechanisms underlying variations in the structure of these vortices with swimming speed remain ...
General Physics
Feb 6, 2025
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Jumping Jupiter! The results are in, storm chasers! Thanks to your help over the last two years, the Jovian Vortex Hunter project has published a catalog of 7,222 vortices, which you can download. Each vortex is an enormous ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 17, 2024
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Vorticity, a measure of the local rotation or swirling motion in a fluid, has long been studied by physicists and mathematicians. The dynamics of vorticity is governed by the famed Navier-Stokes equations, which tell us that ...
