Diego Donzis, Texas A&M University
K.R. Sreenivasan, New York University
Turbulence is the common state of fluid motion in aeronautical and mechanical engineering, as well as biology, geosciences and astrophysics. A great deal of our foundational understanding has been brought about by the key simplifying assumption that the flow is incompressible. However, a number of distinct phenomena exist for which this assumption is violated: the emergence of dilatational motions, the coupling between hydrodynamics and thermodynamics, and a much richer energy pool and transfer mechanisms. All of them spoil the relatively simple understanding and models used extensively in the incompressible realm. In this mini-symposium we will explore a number of open fundamental issues which remain unanswered for compressible flows: universality, energy transfers across modes and scales, anomalies in scaling exponents, departures from incompressible laws, dissipative mechanisms, and the nature of interaction among large, inertial, and small scales. This effort is particularly timely given the renewed and strong national interest in high-speed flight in defense and commercial applications. The exchanges of ideas between leading researchers in the field is expected to further our general understanding and give impetus to new and productive research directions.