Simulation study shows spontaneous stochasticity amplifies thermal noise across scales in turbulent flows, suggesting intrinsic unpredictability originates from molecular noise.
Key Points
Eulerian spontaneous stochasticity amplifies microscopic thermal noise to large-scale turbulent motions within a few eddy turnover times, yielding predictable universal statistics.
Shell model simulations and theoretical estimates demonstrate that small-scale disturbances trigger nonunique solutions at high Reynolds numbers, establishing finite-time chaos.
Highlights that intrinsic stochasticity in Navier-Stokes turbulence and Euler equation dynamics may arise from molecular noise, with broad implications for climate modeling.