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A weakened cascade model for turbulence in astrophysical plasmas
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A weakened cascade model for turbulence in astrophysical plasmas

G Howes, J TenBarge and W Dorland
Physics of plasmas, Vol.18(10), pp.102305-102305-18
10/18/2011
DOI: 10.1063/1.3646400
url
https://arxiv.org/pdf/1109.4158View
Open Access

Abstract

A refined cascade model for kinetic turbulence in weakly collisional astrophysical plasmas is presented that includes both the transition between weak and strong turbulence and the effect of nonlocal interactions on the nonlinear transfer of energy. The model describes the transition between weak and strong MHD turbulence and the complementary transition from strong kinetic Alfvén wave (KAW) turbulence to weak dissipating KAW turbulence, a new regime of weak turbulence in which the effects of shearing by large scale motions and kinetic dissipation play an important role. The inclusion of the effect of nonlocal motions on the nonlinear energy cascade rate in the dissipation range, specifically the shearing by large-scale motions, is proposed to explain the nearly power-law energy spectra observed in the dissipation range of both kinetic numerical simulations and solar wind observations.

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