Experimental Evidence of Kelvin-Wave Turbulence along a Vortex Core.

Authors

Jason Barckicke, Christophe Gissinger, Eric Falcon

Published in

Physical review letters. Volume 137. Issue 13. Pages 134001. Sep 25, 2026.

Abstract

Wave turbulence is a regime of interacting nonlinear waves occurring in most physical systems. Kelvin waves are helical distortions that propagate along vortex filaments and are believed to play a central role in quantum turbulence up to atmospheric vortices. Yet, Kelvin-wave turbulence has remained inaccessible to direct experimental observation. Here, we report the first direct experimental observation of Kelvin-wave turbulence along a single vortex filament in a classical fluid under controlled conditions. Using high-resolution spatiotemporal measurements, we resolve Kelvin-wave dynamics over a broad range of scales and obtain wave-amplitude spectra consistent with the predicted weak-turbulence cascade. We identify six-wave resonant interactions as the mechanism driving this energy transfer, providing direct experimental support for a long-standing prediction of weak-turbulence theory. These results establish an experimental platform for investigating energy transport along vortex filaments, with broader implications for both classical and quantum turbulent systems.

PMID:
42854146
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 Oct 2026.

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