Visualization of a large-scale vortex dipole in 2D active nematic turbulence

Advective inertia is responsible for large-scale flow patterns, which, on sufficiently large domains, become visible as meta-stable condensates. Here, two opposing large-scale vortices form, similar to the ones in classical 2D turbulence. The chaotic motion of small vortex dipoles caused by topological defects in the orientation destabilizes the pattern. The visualization is obtained from a direct numerical simulation of the equations of motion with self-advection of the fluid flow.
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