Depression of nonlinearity in decaying isotropic MHD turbulence

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Mar 7;100(9):095005. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.095005. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

Abstract

Spectral method simulations show that undriven magnetohydrodynamic turbulence spontaneously generates coherent spatial correlations of several types, associated with local Beltrami fields, directional alignment of velocity and magnetic fields, and antialignment of magnetic and fluid acceleration components. These correlations suppress nonlinearity to levels lower than what is obtained from Gaussian fields, and occur in spatial patches. We suggest that this rapid relaxation leads to non-Gaussian statistics and spatial intermittency.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.