Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net 1023-5809 1607-7946 16 2 2009 10.5194/npg-16-219-2009 http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/219/2009/ http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/219/2009/npg-16-219-2009.html http://www.nonlin-processes-geophys.net/16/219/2009/npg-16-219-2009.pdf 219 232 2009-03-27 Limitations of Hall MHD as a model for turbulence in weakly collisional plasmas G. G. Howes gregory-howes@uiowa.edu 505 Van Allen Hall, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA The limitations of Hall MHD as a model for turbulence in weakly collisional plasmas are explored using quantitative comparisons to Vlasov-Maxwell kinetic theory over a wide range of parameter space. The validity of Hall MHD in the cold ion limit is shown, but spurious undamped wave modes exist in Hall MHD when the ion temperature is finite. 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