https://doi.org/10.1140/epjh/e2018-90033-4
Strong turbulence, self-organization and plasma confinement
Osaka University,
Suita, Osaka, Japan
a e-mail: mima@ile.osaka-u.ac.jp
Received:
14
May
2018
Published online: 26 October 2018
This paper elucidates the close connections between hydrodynamic models of two-dimensional fluids and reduced models of plasma dynamics in the presence of a strong magnetic field. The key element is the similarity of the Coriolis force to the Lorentz force. The reduced plasma model, the Hasegawa–Mima equation, is equivalent to the two-dimensional ion vortex equation. The paper discusses the history of the Hasegawa–Mima model and that of a related reduced system called the Hasegawa–Wakatani model. The 2D fluid ↔ magnetized plasma analogy is exploited to argue that magnetized plasma turbulence exhibits a dual cascade, including an inverse cascade of energy. Generation of ordered mesoscopic flows in plasmas (akin to zonal jets) is also explained. The paper concludes with a brief explanation of the relevance of the quasi-2D dynamics to aspects of plasma confinement physics.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature, 2018