4.8 Article

Spectrum of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Journal

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS
Volume 96, Issue 11, Pages -

Publisher

AMER PHYSICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.115002

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We propose a phenomenological theory of strong incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the presence of a strong large-scale external magnetic field. We argue that in the inertial range of scales, magnetic-field and velocity-field fluctuations tend to align the directions of their polarizations. However, the perfect alignment cannot be reached; it is precluded by the presence of a constant energy flux over scales. As a consequence, the directions of shear-Alfven fluid and magnetic-field fluctuations at each scale lambda become effectively aligned within the angle phi(lambda)proportional to lambda(1/4), which leads to scale-dependent depletion of the nonlinear interaction and to the field-perpendicular energy spectrum E(k(perpendicular to))proportional to k(perpendicular to)(-3/2). Our results may be universal, i.e., independent of the external magnetic field, since small-scale fluctuations locally experience a strong field produced by large-scale eddies.

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