MHD turbulence at the laboratory scale: Established ideas and new challenges

Abstract

The properties of MHD turbulence in the electrically conducting fluids available in the laboratory (where the magnetic Reynolds number is significantly smaller than unity) may be summarised as follows: (1) The Alfven waves, even under their degenerated form at this scale, are responsible for a tendency to two-dimensionality. Eddies tend to become aligned with the applied magnetic field and inertia tends to restore isotropy. The competition between these mechanisms results in a spectral law t-2k-3. (2) When insulating walls, perpendicular to the magnetic field, are present and close enough to each other, two-dimensionality can be established with a good approximation within the large scales, and the predominant mechanism is the inverse energy cascade. (3) These columnar eddies are nevertheless submitted to a dissipation within the Hartmann boundary layers present at their ends, whose time scale is independent of the wave number. When this damping effect is negligible, ordinary 2D turbulence is observed with k-5/3 spectra. On the contrary when this (ohmic and viscous) damping is significant this 2D turbulence exhibits k-3 spectra. Besides these homogeneous (except within the Hartmann layers) conditions, for instance in shear flows such as mixing layers, almost nothing is known except that two-dimensionality may be well established. The first results of a recent experimental investigation (still in development) are presented. Some challenging questions are raised, such as the interpretation of a surprising difference between the transport of momentum and the transport of a scalar quantity (heat) across that layer. A video was shown during the oral presentation of this paper, illustrating the energy transfer toward the large scales and the weakness of the dissipation suffered by this 2D velocity field. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.