Diffusion fails to make a stink

In this work, we consider the question of whether a simple diffusive model can explain the scent tracking behaviors found in nature. For such tracking to occur, both the concentration of a scent and its gradient must be above some threshold. Applying these conditions to the solutions of various diff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of fluids (1994) 2021-03, Vol.33 (3)
Main Authors: McCaul, Gerard, Mershin, Andreas, Bondar, Denys I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computational fluid dynamics
Concentration gradient
Fluid dynamics
Fluid flow
Nonlinear dynamics
Nonlinear phenomena
Physics
Tracking
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Summary:In this work, we consider the question of whether a simple diffusive model can explain the scent tracking behaviors found in nature. For such tracking to occur, both the concentration of a scent and its gradient must be above some threshold. Applying these conditions to the solutions of various diffusion equations, we find that the steady state of a purely diffusive model cannot simultaneously satisfy the tracking conditions when parameters are in the experimentally observed range. This demonstrates the necessity of modeling odor dispersal with full fluid dynamics, where nonlinear phenomena such as turbulence play a critical role.
ISSN:1070-6631
1089-7666
DOI:10.1063/5.0044064