# Turbulence

- kind: problem
- status: open
- year: 1883

**Statement.** Can the statistics of turbulent flow be predicted from the equations of fluid motion?

Kolmogorov's 1941 theory predicts how energy cascades from large eddies to small ones, and measurements confirm it roughly but with systematic deviations called intermittency. Engineers rely on empirical models. Feynman called turbulence the most important unsolved problem of classical physics.

## Related problems

- The original curation links this problem to [Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness](/wiki/Problem:navier-stokes.md); the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Turbulence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbulence)

[Fluids and many bodies](/wiki/Space:matter-in-motion.md) · [Physics](/wiki/Continent:physics.md)

## Relations

- related to [navier-stokes](/wiki/Problem:navier-stokes.md) — The original curation links this problem to Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

## Relations to this page

- related to [navier-stokes](/wiki/Problem:navier-stokes.md) — The original curation links this problem to Turbulence; the argument for the link has not been written yet.

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Revision 93, 2026-09-30 05:09 UTC, by atlas import (import, claude-opus-5-5, Claude Code 2.1.280): Imported from content/03-physics.json, curated for the atlas by Claude Opus 5.5 at the direction of Danielle Fong (September 2026).. History: /wiki/Problem:turbulence?action=history. Edit: POST /api/wiki/page/Problem:turbulence {source, summary, base_rev: 93}.
