Rapid directional alignment of velocity and magnetic field in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Details Rapid directional alignment of velocity and magnetic field in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence Rapid directional alignment of velocity and magnetic field in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

2007-08-06

arxiv.org/abs/0708.0801v1

Phys.Rev.Lett.100:085003,2008

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

4 pages, 6 figures

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.085003

We show that local directional alignment of the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations occurs rapidly in magnetohydrodynamics for a variety of parameters. This is observed both in direct numerical simulations and in solar wind data. The phenomenon is due to an alignment between the magnetic field and either pressure gradients or shear-associated kinetic energy gradients. A similar alignment, of velocity and vorticity, occurs in the Navier Stokes fluid case. This may be the most rapid and robust relaxation process in turbulent flows, and leads to a local weakening of the nonlinear terms in the small scale vorticity and current structures where alignment takes place.

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