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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-43/4/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 43 4 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For stationary horizontally homogeneous means, incompressibility gives and the impermeable boundary makes throughout. With no imposed horizontal mean pressure gradient, the balances reduce toThe last equation includes the vertical Reynolds stress; omitting it requires an additional small-normal-stress approximation. The total vertical buoyancy flux is and the horizontal momentum flux is a signed constant with . These are fluxes per unit reference density.
The local down-gradient closure defines eddy viscosity and eddy diffusivity byA parcel moving upwards typically retains the smaller momentum or scalar value from its previous height in an increasing mean profile; its fluctuation then correlates negatively with upward motion. This motivates positive coefficients, but is a closure assumption, not a universal theorem about turbulent or convective fluxes. The mean gradients obeyFor positive applied traction on a fluid above a bottom boundary, and the mean velocity decreases away from the forcing boundary. The usual atmospheric convention specifies the stress absorbed by the boundary and has the opposite sign of ; scalar and Richardson-number results are unchanged. At large Reynolds number and Péclet number, outside the molecular wall sublayers, and , so molecular transport can be neglected in these flux-gradient relations. Large bulk numbers do not justify doing this exactly at a smooth solid wall.
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