Random splitting of point vortex flows

Abstract

We consider a stochastic version of the point vortex system, in which the fluid velocity advects single vortices intermittently for small random times. Such system converges to the deterministic point vortex dynamics as the rate at which single components of the vector field are randomly switched diverges, and therefore it provides an alternative discretization of 2D Euler equations. The random vortex system we introduce preserves microcanonical statistical ensembles of the point vortex system, hence constituting a simpler alternative to the latter in the statistical mechanics approach to 2D turbulence.