Research

Broad themes

• Statistical physics & Theoretical condensed matter physics
  • Classical fluids; Quantum fluids
  • Biological systems and Active matter physics
• Non-equilibrium quantum dynamics of many-body systems
• Physics & Computing

Statement

Our focus is on identifying the common themes that occur in a wide variety of turbulent systems, ranging from flows on astrophysical to quantum scales. In particular, our major emphasis is on the study of various dynamical and statistical properties of turbulence and other non-equilibrium states at zero- and finite-temperatures in different quantum fluids, e.g., weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensates both neutral and charged, superfluid 4He, analogous nonlinear optical systems, etc. The ideas developed and tested for these systems are useful for other quantum fluids as well, at least in bits and pieces, viz. polariton condensates inside semiconductor microcavities, 3He, unitary Fermi gas, neutron stars, etc.

On the more classical side, we are interested in the phenomena of irreversibility; singularities in viscous and inviscid three-dimensional turbulent flows; all within the scope of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. We are also interested in the dynamics of large scales and bifurcation of the mean flow on a strongly turbulent background, which has applications in geophysical flows. We occasionally also work on transport of (phoretic) particles in turbulent flows.

We are also interested in exploring the physics of active matter systems in fluid environment.

We make good use of numerical simulations, including high-performance-computing, in our  endeavour to understand the above physics.

In summary, we are driven by a grand vision of evolving a coherent story of turbulence described by the two most widely studied partial differential equations: the Navier-Stokes equation and the non-linear Schrödinger equation (and their variants).