# Plasma Turbulence and Dall-E

By [anjor](https://paragraph.com/@anjor) · 2022-09-27

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What is turbulence (roughly)?
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For something that is intuitively understood by everyone, [turbulence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence) is a complex phenomenon to define in a precise manner. The wikipedia definition simply delegates the complexity to [chaos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory), another complex concept to define.

One salient characteristic of turbulent systems is redistribution of energy from large scales to small scales - [trickle-down](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics) physics, if you will. The classic example is that of a cup of coffee. If one stirs coffee in a cup, roughly close to the edge of the cup, then that forms a large [eddy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_\(fluid_dynamics\)) - energy is injected into the system at the largest available length scale (the diameter of the coffee cup). This eddy breaks down into smaller eddies, and smaller and eventually dissipates due to viscosity at the small scales.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/12331e56df6bf80c5c8dbf1191657fc3b1ae505b3f297e86eca01c51ec27bb14.png)

Digital Art of a Plasma Turbulence Model
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During grad school days, I always found it annoyingly difficult to generate pretty pictures from my simulations. Often times all I wanted was a visual representation of turbulence that looks like a simulation but is also striking enough to draw in the audience. Even when I did manage to generate some acceptable images they were invariable too simple and not rich enough.

Seven years after finishing grad school I found myself in possession of an invite to [Dall-E](https://openai.com/dall-e-2/), and one of the prompts I tried early on was “digital art of a plasma turbulence model”. The results were shockingly good!

In all of these images you can see structures ranging from the largest length scale to the smallest, i.e., they are indeed images of turbulence!

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/96fadd7ba8526e148981f0e7190ae4fc00a8a8d1d9f4bd0366c5aedc9b5af0ee.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/07f2bdb8447e47515136241ef58e95d05811459edcfc45f3296b9a115be88904.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/288a6834b7eba4fd19ef8a2cc235090db0ca0e47a14204554cc4547a1fd9fe1c.png)

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/02c234602e4ce532d690dbe2cda932fd5795ee2032e40be9a18309ec6db80937.png)

If you are curious about my PhD work, check out my [thesis](https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/16418/Kanekar_umd_0117E_15893.pdf).

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*Originally published on [anjor](https://paragraph.com/@anjor/plasma-turbulence-and-dall-e)*