Coherent structures in fluid dynamics and kinetic equations

A possible approach to the simulation of turbulent flows is proposed that is based on statistics of vortices of various types in a plane. It is shown that coherent (large-scale) fluid structures can be identified with solutions of the Joyce-Montgomery equations, and the possibility that these solutions bifurcate is explored. The formalism of turbulent dynamics description is based on kinetic equations for point vortices with a nontrivial internal structure.