First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading
We study the spreading of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, by airborne aerosols, via a first-passage-time problem for Lagrangian tracers that are advected by a turbulent flow: By direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional (3D) incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, we obtain the time t_{R} at...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
American Physical Society
2020-08-01
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| Series: | Physical Review Research |
| Online Access: | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033239 |
| _version_ | 1797211340522127360 |
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| author | Akhilesh Kumar Verma Akshay Bhatnagar Dhrubaditya Mitra Rahul Pandit |
| author_facet | Akhilesh Kumar Verma Akshay Bhatnagar Dhrubaditya Mitra Rahul Pandit |
| author_sort | Akhilesh Kumar Verma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We study the spreading of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, by airborne aerosols, via a first-passage-time problem for Lagrangian tracers that are advected by a turbulent flow: By direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional (3D) incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, we obtain the time t_{R} at which a tracer, initially at the origin of a sphere of radius R, crosses the surface of the sphere for the first time. We obtain the probability distribution function P(R,t_{R}) and show that it displays two qualitatively different behaviors: (a) for R≪L_{I}, P(R,t_{R}) has a power-law tail ∼t_{R}^{−α}, with the exponent α=4 and L_{I} the integral scale of the turbulent flow; (b) for L_{I}≲R, the tail of P(R,t_{R}) decays exponentially. We develop models that allow us to obtain these asymptotic behaviors analytically. We show how to use P(R,t_{R}) to develop social-distancing guidelines for the mitigation of the spreading of airborne aerosols with viruses such as SARS-CoV-2. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:24:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-78f20294658c4c8f916bb2b1d638c6ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2643-1564 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T10:24:56Z |
| publishDate | 2020-08-01 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physical Review Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-78f20294658c4c8f916bb2b1d638c6ee2024-04-12T16:58:43ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642020-08-012303323910.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033239First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreadingAkhilesh Kumar VermaAkshay BhatnagarDhrubaditya MitraRahul PanditWe study the spreading of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, by airborne aerosols, via a first-passage-time problem for Lagrangian tracers that are advected by a turbulent flow: By direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional (3D) incompressible Navier-Stokes equation, we obtain the time t_{R} at which a tracer, initially at the origin of a sphere of radius R, crosses the surface of the sphere for the first time. We obtain the probability distribution function P(R,t_{R}) and show that it displays two qualitatively different behaviors: (a) for R≪L_{I}, P(R,t_{R}) has a power-law tail ∼t_{R}^{−α}, with the exponent α=4 and L_{I} the integral scale of the turbulent flow; (b) for L_{I}≲R, the tail of P(R,t_{R}) decays exponentially. We develop models that allow us to obtain these asymptotic behaviors analytically. We show how to use P(R,t_{R}) to develop social-distancing guidelines for the mitigation of the spreading of airborne aerosols with viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033239 |
| spellingShingle | Akhilesh Kumar Verma Akshay Bhatnagar Dhrubaditya Mitra Rahul Pandit First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading Physical Review Research |
| title | First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| title_full | First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| title_fullStr | First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| title_full_unstemmed | First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| title_short | First-passage-time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| title_sort | first passage time problem for tracers in turbulent flows applied to virus spreading |
| url | http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.2.033239 |
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