Analytical theory of forced rotating sheared turbulence: The parallel case

Forced turbulence combined with the effect of rotation and shear flow is studied. In a previous paper [N. Leprovost and E. J. Kim, Phys. Rev. E 78, 016301 (2008)], we considered the case where the shear and the rotation are perpendicular. Here, we consider the complementary case of parallel rotation and shear, elucidating how rotation and flow shear influence the generation of shear flow (e.g., the direction of energy cascade), turbulence level, transport of particles, and momentum. We show that turbulence amplitude and transport are always quenched due to strong shear (ξ=νky2∕A⪡1, where A is the shearing rate, ν is the molecular viscosity, and ky is a characteristic wave number of small-scale turbulence), with stronger reduction in the direction of the shear than those in the perpendicular directions. In contrast with the case where rotation and shear are perpendicular, we found that rotation affects turbulence amplitude only for very rapid rotation (Ω⪢A) where it reduces slightly the anisotropy due to shear flow. Also, concerning the transport properties of turbulence, we find that rotation affects only the transport of particle and only for rapid rotation, leading to an almost isotropic transport (whereas, in the case of perpendicular rotation and shear, rotation favors isotropic transport even for slow rotation). Furthermore, the interaction between the shear and the rotation is shown to give rise to nondiffusive flux of angular momentum (Λ effect), even in the absence of external sources of anisotropy, which can provide a mechanism for the creation of shearing structures in astrophysical and geophysical systems.