This is under construction. We are studying the mathematical development of large eddy simulation. LES has been highly developed by the engineering computational fluid dynamics community since its inception in 1970. The research program of our group at Pitt is to provide a mathematical and numerical analytic foundation for the field.
Turbulent flow is composed of coherent patches of swirling fluid called eddies.
These range in size from large storm systems such as hurricanes to the little swirls of air shed from a butterfly s wings. Current approaches to LES seem to be presently confronting some barriers to resolution, accuracy and predictability. It seems likely that many of these barriers can be traced to the mathematical foundation of the models used, the boundary conditions imposed and the algorithms employed for the simulations. The research undertaken is to develop these mathematical foundations as a guide for practical computation. W. Layton and R. Lewandowski, Analysis of an eddy viscosity model for large eddy simulation of turbulent flows, technical report, 2001.