Rates, pathways, and end states of nonlinear evolution in decaying two-dimensional turbulence: Scaling theory versus selective decay

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Abstract
A recently proposed scaling theory of two-dimensional turbulent decay, based on the evolutionary pathway of successive mergers of coherent vortices, is used to predict the rate and end state of the evolution. These predictions differ from those based on the selective-decay hypothesis and traditional ideas of spectrum evolution, and they are in substantially better agreement with numerical solutions at large Reynolds number.