From small-scale dynamo to isotropic MHD turbulence

Alexander A. Schekochihin, Steven C. Cowley, Samuel F. Taylor, Jason L. Maron, James C. McWilliams

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

We consider the problem of incompressible, forced, nonhelical, homogeneous, isotropic MHD turbulence with no mean magnetic field. This problem is essentially different from the case with externally imposed uniform mean field. There is no scale-by-scale equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energies as would be the case for the Alfvén-wave turbulence. The isotropic MHD turbulence is the end state of the turbulent dynamo which generates folded fields with small-scale direction reversals. We propose that the statistics seen in numerical simulations of isotropic MHD turbulence could be explained as a superposition of these folded fields and Alfvén-like waves that propagate along the folds.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)141-146
Number of pages6
JournalAstrophysics and Space Science
Volume292
Issue number1-4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2004
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Keywords

  • Alfvén waves
  • MHD turbulence
  • dynamo

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