The kinematics and dynamics of vorticity in the inertial range: a possible scenario

The evolution of initially weak structures of vorticity as they evolve in an incompressible turbulent flow is investigated. Such objects are candidates for being important structures in the inertial range and in the dissipation range of scales. Initially, these structures evolve passively as a result of the induced velocity field of the large-scale vorticity field. This field is three dimensional and time dependent, so these objects are subjected to straining apropos of Lagrangian chaos, characterized by a distribution of finite-time Lyapunov exponents.