Angular dependence of third-order law in anisotropic MHD turbulence

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Jiang, Bin, Gao, Zhuoran, Yang, Yan, Pecora, Francesco, Gao, Kai, Li, Cheng, Oughton, Sean, Matthaeus, William, Wan, Minping
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Jiang, Bin
Gao, Zhuoran
Yang, Yan
Pecora, Francesco
Gao, Kai
Li, Cheng
Oughton, Sean
Matthaeus, William
Wan, Minping
author_facet Jiang, Bin
Gao, Zhuoran
Yang, Yan
Pecora, Francesco
Gao, Kai
Li, Cheng
Oughton, Sean
Matthaeus, William
Wan, Minping
contents In solar wind turbulence, the energy transfer/dissipation rate is typically estimated using MHD third-order structure functions calculated using spacecraft observations. However, the inherent anisotropy of solar wind turbulence leads to significant variations in structure functions along different observational directions, thereby affecting the accuracy of energy-dissipation rate estimation. An unresolved issue is how to optimise the selection of observation angles under limited directional sampling to improve estimation precision. We conduct a series of MHD turbulence simulations with different mean magnetic field strengths, $ B_0 $. Our analysis of the third-order structure functions reveals that the global energy dissipation rate estimated around a polar angle of $ θ= 60^\circ$ agrees reasonably with the exact one for $ 0 \le B_0/b_{rms} \le 5 $, where $b_{rms}$ denotes the root-mean-square magnetic field fluctuation. The speciality of $60^\circ$ polar angle can be understood by the Mean Value Theorem of Integrals, since the spherical integral of the polar-angle component ($\widetilde{T_θ}$) of the divergence of Yaglom flux is zero, and $\widetilde{T_θ}$ changes sign around 60$^\circ$. Existing theory on the energy flux vector as a function of the polar angle is assessed, and supports the speciality of $60^\circ$ polar angle. The angular dependence of the third-order structure functions is further assessed with virtual spacecraft data analysis. The present results can be applied to measure the turbulent dissipation rates of energy in the solar wind, which are of potential importance to other areas in which turbulence takes place, such as laboratory plasmas and astrophysics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_16610
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Angular dependence of third-order law in anisotropic MHD turbulence
Jiang, Bin
Gao, Zhuoran
Yang, Yan
Pecora, Francesco
Gao, Kai
Li, Cheng
Oughton, Sean
Matthaeus, William
Wan, Minping
Space Physics
Fluid Dynamics
In solar wind turbulence, the energy transfer/dissipation rate is typically estimated using MHD third-order structure functions calculated using spacecraft observations. However, the inherent anisotropy of solar wind turbulence leads to significant variations in structure functions along different observational directions, thereby affecting the accuracy of energy-dissipation rate estimation. An unresolved issue is how to optimise the selection of observation angles under limited directional sampling to improve estimation precision. We conduct a series of MHD turbulence simulations with different mean magnetic field strengths, $ B_0 $. Our analysis of the third-order structure functions reveals that the global energy dissipation rate estimated around a polar angle of $ θ= 60^\circ$ agrees reasonably with the exact one for $ 0 \le B_0/b_{rms} \le 5 $, where $b_{rms}$ denotes the root-mean-square magnetic field fluctuation. The speciality of $60^\circ$ polar angle can be understood by the Mean Value Theorem of Integrals, since the spherical integral of the polar-angle component ($\widetilde{T_θ}$) of the divergence of Yaglom flux is zero, and $\widetilde{T_θ}$ changes sign around 60$^\circ$. Existing theory on the energy flux vector as a function of the polar angle is assessed, and supports the speciality of $60^\circ$ polar angle. The angular dependence of the third-order structure functions is further assessed with virtual spacecraft data analysis. The present results can be applied to measure the turbulent dissipation rates of energy in the solar wind, which are of potential importance to other areas in which turbulence takes place, such as laboratory plasmas and astrophysics.
title Angular dependence of third-order law in anisotropic MHD turbulence
topic Space Physics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.16610