Stochastic model of Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing

We propose a stochastic model to describe the random character of the dissipation process in Rayleigh-Taylor turbulent mixing. The parameter alpha, used conventionally to characterize the mixing growth-rate, is not a universal constant and is very sensitive to the statistical properties of the dissipation. The ratio between the rates of momentum loss and momentum gain is the statistic invariant and a robust parameter to diagnose with or without turbulent diffusion accounted for. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.