Intermittency, dissipation, and scaling in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Journal Article · Mon Jan 15 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2409528· OSTI ID:20960089

Merrifield, J A; Chapman, S C; Dendy, R O ^[1]

---

1. Centre for Fusion, Space and Astrophysics, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) provide a means to test phenomenological models for the scaling properties of intermittent MHD turbulence. The well-known model of She and Leveque, when generalized to MHD, is in good agreement with the DNS in three dimensions, however, it does not coincide with DNS in two dimensions (2D). This is resolved here using the results of recent DNS of driven MHD turbulence in 2D which directly determine the scaling of the rate of dissipation. Specifically, a simple modification to generalized refined similarity is proposed that captures the results of the 2D MHD simulations. This leads to a new generalization of She and Leveque in MHD that is coincident with the DNS results in 2D. A key feature of this model is that the most intensely dissipating structures, which are responsible for the intermittency, are thread-like in 2D, independent of whether the underlying phenomenology of the cascade is Kolmogorov or Iroshnikov Kraichnan.

• OSTI ID: 20960089
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
SCALING
TURBULENCE
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS