Effective Ampère force in developed magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

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Abstract

The interaction between a large-scale uniform weak magnetic field B and a developed small-scale magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is studied. It is found that the effective mean Ampère force in the turbulence is given by Fm=-(QpB2/8)+(B)QsB/4. The turbulent magnetic coefficients Qp and Qs are drastically decreased at large magnetic Reynolds numbers, whereas in the absence of turbulence Qp=Qs=1. This phenomenon arises due to a negative contribution of the MHD turbulence to the mean magnetic force. This is caused by the generation of magnetic fluctuations at the expense of fluctuations of the velocity field. This effect is nonlinear in terms of the large-scale magnetic field. It is shown here that in turbulence with a mean large-scale magnetic field, a universal k-1 spectrum of magnetic fluctuations exists; this spectrum is independent of the exponent of the spectrum of the turbulent velocity field. A variant of the renormalization group (RNG) method allows the derivation of the scaling and amplitude of the turbulent transport coefficients: turbulent viscosity, turbulent magnetic diffusion, and turbulent magnetic coefficients. A small parameter in the RNG method is the ratio =B2/(8Wk) of the large-scale magnetic energy density to the energy density Wk=(1/2)u2 of the turbulent velocity field.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2716-2730
Number of pages15
JournalPhysical Review E
Volume50
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 1994

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
  • Statistics and Probability
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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