H theorems in statistical fluid dynamics

Abstract. It is demonstrated that the second-order Markovian closures frequently used in turbulence theory imply an H theorem for inviscid flow with an ultraviolet spectral cut-off. That is, from the inviscid closure equations, it follows that a certain functional of the energy spectrum (namely entropy) increases monotonically in time to a maximum value at absolute equilibrium. This is shown explicitly for isotropic homogeneous flow in dimensions d 3 2, and then a generalised theorem which covers a wide class of systems of current interest is presented. It is shown that the H theorem for closure can be derived from a Gibbs-type H theorem for the exact non-dissipative dynamics. 1