| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 4 Special Issue |
www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/14/351/2007/
© Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
Three-dimensional simulations of turbulent spectra in the local interstellar medium
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Riverside CA 92521, USA
Abstract. Three-dimensional time dependent numerical simulations of compressible magnetohydrodynamic fluids describing super-Alfvénic, supersonic and strongly magnetized space and laboratory plasmas show a nonlinear relaxation towards a state of near incompressibility. The latter is characterized essentially by a subsonic turbulent Mach number. This transition is mediated dynamically by disparate spectral energy dissipation rates in compressible magnetosonic and shear Alfvénic modes. Nonlinear cascades lead to super-Alfvénic turbulent motions decaying to a sub-Alfvénic regime that couples weakly with (magneto)acoustic cascades. Consequently, the supersonic plasma motion is transformed into highly subsonic motion and density fluctuations experience a passive convection. This model provides a self-consistent explaination of the ubiquitous nature of incompressible magnetoplasma fluctuations in the solar wind and the interstellar medium.
Full Article (PDF, 2435 KB)
Citation: Shaikh, D. and Zank, G. P.: Three-dimensional simulations of turbulent spectra in the local interstellar medium, Nonlin. Processes Geophys., 14, 351-359, 2007. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
