We consider fluctuating Sabra models of turbulence, which exhibit the phenomenon of spontaneous stochasticity: Their solutions converge to a stochastic process in the ideal limit, when both viscosity and small-scale noise vanish. In this paper, we develop a renormalization group (RG) approach to explain this phenomenon. Here, RG is understood as an exact relation between the stochastic properties of systems with different dissipative and noise terms, in contrast to the Kadanoff-Wilson coarse-graining procedure, which involves small-scale integration. We argue that the stochastic process in the ideal limit is represented as a fixed point of the RG operator. The existence of such a fixed point confirms not only the convergence in the ideal limit but also the universality of the spontaneously stochastic process, i.e., its independence from the type of dissipation and noise. The dominant eigenmode of the linearized RG operator determines the leading correction in the convergence process. The RG eigenvalue $\rho \approx 0.84exp\left(2.28i\right)$ is universal and it turns out to be complex, which explains the rather slow and oscillatory convergence in the ideal limit. These universality predictions are accurately confirmed by numerical data.

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• Renormalization group
• Turbulence