Multi-scale laminar flows with turbulent-like properties

By applying fractal electromagnetic force fields on a thin layer of brine, we generate steady quasi-two-dimensional laminar flows with multi-scale stagnation point topology. This topology is shown to control the evolution of pair separation ($\Delta$) statistics by imposing a turbulent-like locality based on the sizes and strain rates of hyperbolic stagnation points when the flows are fast enough, in which case $<\Delta^{2}> \sim t^{\gamma}$ (whether $t$ stands for time) is a good approximation with $\gamma$ close to 3. Spatially multi-scale laminar flows with turbulent-like spectral and stirring properties are a new concept with potential applications in efficient and micro-fluidic mixing.