Phenomenology treatment of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with nonequipartition and anisotropy

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) turbulence theory, often employed satisfactorily in astrophysical applications, has often focused on parameter ranges that imply nearly equal values of kinetic and magnetic energies and length scales. However, MHD flow may have disparity magnetic Prandtl number, dissimilar kinetic and magnetic Reynolds number, different kinetic and magnetic outer length scales, and strong anisotropy. Here a phenomenology for such nonequipartitioned MHD flow is discussed. Two conditions are proposed for a MHD flow to transition to strong turbulent flow, which are extensions of (i) Taylor's constant flux in an inertial range and (ii) Kolmogorov's scale separation between the large and small scale boundaries of an inertial range. For this analysis, the detailed information on turbulence structure is not needed. These two conditions for MHD transition are expected to provide consistent predictions and should be applicable to anisotropic MHD flows, after the length scales are replaced by their corresponding perpendicular components. Second, it is stressed that the dynamics and anisotropy of MHD fluctuations are controlled by the relative strength between the straining effects between eddies of similar size and the sweeping action by the large eddies, or propagation effect of the large-scale magnetic fields, on the small scales, and analysis of this balance, in principle, also requires consideration of nonequipartition effects. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.