A Lagrangian stochastic model for tetrad dispersion

We present results for tetrad (four-particle) dispersion in homogeneous isotropic turbulence by means of a simple Lagrangian stochastic model with a focus on the inertial subrange. We show that for appropriate values of C ₀, the constant of proportionality in the second-order Lagrangian velocity structure function, the shape statistics agree well with equivalent results from a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulence. Moreover, we show that the shape statistics are independent of C ₀ for a wide range of C ₀-values. We also show that the parameters which characterise the shape of the tetrads can be approximately related to appropriate ratios of the growth rates of the mean square separation, the mean square area and the mean square volume of the tetrads. By means of exit times, we are able to estimate the equivalent values for the DNS data. We also consider the statistics of four-point velocity differences (via a diffusion tensor) which agree well with the DNS. We show that the nature of the velocity field experienced by the tetrad varies significantly with C ₀.