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Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the limits of infinite and vanishing magnetic Prandtl number

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2013

Chuong V. Tran*
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G1, Canada
Xinwei Yu
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G1, Canada
Luke A. K. Blackbourn
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, UK Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G1, Canada
*
Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

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We study both theoretically and numerically two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence at infinite and zero magnetic Prandtl number $\mathit{Pm}$ (and the limits thereof), with an emphasis on solution regularity. For $\mathit{Pm}= 0$, both $\Vert \omega \Vert ^{2} $ and $\Vert j\Vert ^{2} $, where $\omega $ and $j$ are, respectively, the vorticity and current, are uniformly bounded. Furthermore, $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} j\Vert ^{2} $ is integrable over $[0, \infty )$. The uniform boundedness of $\Vert \omega \Vert ^{2} $ implies that in the presence of vanishingly small viscosity $\nu $ (i.e. in the limit $\mathit{Pm}\rightarrow 0$), the kinetic energy dissipation rate $\nu \Vert \omega \Vert ^{2} $ vanishes for all times $t$, including $t= \infty $. Furthermore, for sufficiently small $\mathit{Pm}$, this rate decreases linearly with $\mathit{Pm}$. This linear behaviour of $\nu \Vert \omega \Vert ^{2} $ is investigated and confirmed by high-resolution simulations with $\mathit{Pm}$ in the range $[1/ 64, 1] $. Several criteria for solution regularity are established and numerically tested. As $\mathit{Pm}$ is decreased from unity, the ratio $\Vert \omega \Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert $ is observed to increase relatively slowly. This, together with the integrability of $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} j\Vert ^{2} $, suggests global regularity for $\mathit{Pm}= 0$. When $\mathit{Pm}= \infty $, global regularity is secured when either $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} \boldsymbol{u}\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert $, where $\boldsymbol{u}$ is the fluid velocity, or $\Vert j\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert j\Vert $ is bounded. The former is plausible given the presence of viscous effects for this case. Numerical results over the range $\mathit{Pm}\in [1, 64] $ show that $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} \boldsymbol{u}\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert $ varies slightly (with similar behaviour for $\Vert j\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert j\Vert $), thereby lending strong support for the possibility $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} \boldsymbol{u}\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert \lt \infty $ in the limit $\mathit{Pm}\rightarrow \infty $. The peak of the magnetic energy dissipation rate $\mu \Vert j\Vert ^{2} $ is observed to decrease rapidly as $\mathit{Pm}$ is increased. This result suggests the possibility $\Vert j\Vert ^{2} \lt \infty $ in the limit $\mathit{Pm}\rightarrow \infty $. We discuss further evidence for the boundedness of the ratios $\Vert \omega \Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert $, $\Vert \boldsymbol{\nabla} \boldsymbol{u}\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert \omega \Vert $ and $\Vert j\Vert _{\infty } / \Vert j\Vert $ in conjunction with observation on the density of filamentary structures in the vorticity, velocity gradient and current fields.

Type
Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - SA
The online version of this article is published within an Open Access environment subject to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence . The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use.
Copyright
©2013 Cambridge University Press.

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