Research.

My research activity is focused on the statistical properties of turbulent motions in a variety of systems, from low dimensional ideal ones,
to boundary layers, atmospheric clouds, and complex suspensions of small particles.
Recently, I started to work on hydrodynamical problems in quantum systems.

Main topics

Most intense vortical structures in a turbulent flow: a fractal damping of degrees of freedom is applied (EPJE 39, 49, 2016).

Intermittency in Turbulent Flows

Small scale turbulent fluctuations are strongly non-Gaussian, and because of this we argue that they are also universal, wrt large scale properties of the system. Such anomalous behaviour becomes crucial when interested in the statistics of rare events.








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Heavy particles of different inertia from a point source in a 3D turbulent flow (JFM 757, 550, 2014).

Lagrangian Dynamics

Particulate matter dispersed in a flow is a subject attracting much attention from both fundamental physics and engineering. Standard problems arise from environmental sciences, concerning pollutant or dust emissions; from climate dynamics and hydrological cycles, concerning the role of aerosols in the earth radiative budget, and from problems such as the optimization of combustion processes in diesel engines. I study the way single and bunches of particles diffuse: my focus is on extreme events, i.e., particles that diffuse much faster or much slower than the average.

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Breakup rate vs critical kinetic energy dissipation rate (JFM 766, 104, 2015).

Breakup in Turbulent Flows

In many different applications, it happens that small aggregates such as clusters or flocs are suspended in turbulent flows. Hydrodynamical stresses due to the turbulent nature of the flow act to breakup such aggregates - preventing the formation of very large clusters- and contribute to disperse them. Turbulence is also crucial for the reverse process, i.e., the transformation of small aggregates of colloidal size into aggregates of few micrometers to millimeters.
My focus is on the way turbulence acts to break aggregates or to make them collide and recombine.

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INFN research

FIELDTURB is a INFN-funded project on fundamental questions involving general problems of classical field theories of out-of-equilibrium systems at macro-, micro- and nano-scales, as well as of many applied problems involving, e.g. energy production and transfer, interface functionalization and autonomous navigation. To know more, go here.


Collaborations
Dr. Matthaus Baebler, KTH Stokholm (Sweden)
Prof. Luca Biferale, Univ. Tor Vergata, Rome (IT)
Dr. Massimo Cencini, CNR ISC, Rome (IT)
Prof. Federico Toschi, Technical Univ. Eindhoven (NL)
​Prof. Marco Vanni, Politecnico Torino (IT)


Student Training
Liesbeth Campmans, Master student, TuE, Eindhoven (NL) 2021-2022
Mauro Sardone, Research contract, Unisalento funded, 2021-2022
Vincenzo De Toma, PhD student 2019-2021
Dr. Guido Macorini, Post-doc, CNR funded    Jan - Dic 2019
Dr. Gabriella Schirinzi, Post-doc, INFN funded  Sept. 2017 - Sept. 2018
Dr. Irene Mazzitelli,  Post-doc, CNR funded 2008-2010; 2013
Chiara Antonucci, Master student, Univ. Tor Vergata, Rome 2012
Riccardo Scatamacchia, Master student 2010
Mariana Cassol, PhD student , Eu FP7 funded  2006-2009


HPC
2021 PRACE DIGEST 2021  includes an interview to me released in November 2021, about my last PRACE project
2019 Project EU-PRACE 19th Call SPECTRA Universality of Kolmogorov spectrum in non ideal turbulent flows  56Million CPU hours MARCONI KNL (CINECA, IT).  
2017 Project EU-PRACE 14th Call MIXER: How stratification, rotation and confinement impacts on the turbulent mixing of passive and active particulate matter. 25Million CPU hours MARE NOSTRUM (BSC, SP).  
2012 Project EU-PRACE 4th Call Eulerian and Lagrangian Turbulence over a reduced fractal skeleton. 22Million CPU hours FERMI (CINECA, IT).