Jackson R. Herring and the Statistical Closure Problem of Turbulence: A Review of Renormalized Perturbation Theories

The pioneering applications of the methods of theoretical physics to the turbulence statistical closure problem are summarised. These are: the direct-interaction approximation (DIA) of Kraichnan, the self-consistent-field theory of Edwards, and the self-consistent-field theory of Herring. Particular attention is given to the latter, in terms of its elegance and its pedagogical value. We then concentrate on the assessment of these theories and take the historical route of Kraichnan’s diagnosis of the failure of DIA, followed by Edwards’s analysis of the failure of his self-consistent theory, when compared to the Kolmogorov spectrum. As all three theories are closely related, these analyses also shed light on Herring’s theory. The second-generation theories that grew out of this assessment are then discussed. First, there were the Lagrangian theories, initially stemming from the work of Kraichnan and Herring, and later the purely Eulerian local energy-transfer (LET) theory. The latter is significant because its development exposes the underlying problems with the pioneering theories in terms of the basic physics of the inertial energy transfer. In particular, later work allows us to assign a unified explanation of the incompatibility of all three pioneering theories with the Kolmororov spectrum, in that they are all Markovian approximations (in wavenumber) to the non-Markovian phenomenon of fluid turbulence. In the interests of completeness, we briefly review the formalisms of Wyld and Martin, Siggia, and Rose. More recent developments are also discussed, in order to bring the subject up to the present day.