High Reynolds number magnetohydrodynamic turbulence using a Lagrangian model

Abstract

With the help of a model of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence tested previously, we explore high Reynolds number regimes up to equivalent resolutions of 60003 grid points in the absence of forcing and with no imposed uniform magnetic field. For the given initial condition chosen here, with equal kinetic and magnetic energy, the flow ends up being dominated by the magnetic field, and the dynamics leads to an isotropic Iroshnikov-Kraichnan energy spectrum. However, the locally anisotropic magnetic field fluctuations perpendicular to the local mean field follow a Kolmogorov law. We find that the ratio of the eddy turnover time to the Alfvén time increases with wave number, contrary to the so-called critical balance hypothesis. Residual energy and helicity spectra are also considered; the role played by the conservation of magnetic helicity is studied, and scaling laws are found for the magnetic helicity and residual helicity spectra. We put these results in the context of the dynamics of a globally isotropic MHD flow that is locally anisotropic because of the influence of the strong large-scale magnetic field, leading to a partial equilibration between kinetic and magnetic modes for the energy and the helicity. © 2011 American Physical Society.