Time-Symmetry Breaking in Turbulent Multi-Particle Dispersion

This thesis presents experimental and theoretical investigations of the connection between the time asymmetry in the short-time evolution of particle clusters and the intrinsic irreversibility of turbulent flows due to the energy cascade.

The term turbulence describes a special state of a continuous medium in which many interacting degrees of freedom are excited. One of the interesting phenomena observed in turbulent flows is their time irreversibility. When milk is stirred into coffee, fo...