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Inverse cascade of hybrid helicity in BΩ-MHD turbulence

Mélissa D. Menu1,2,*, Sébastien Galtier3,†, and Ludovic Petitdemange4,‡

  • 1Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, École polytechnique, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, F-91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
  • 2LERMA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, F-75005 Paris, France
  • 3Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Université Paris-Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, Institut universitaire de France, École polytechnique, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Observatoire de Paris, F-91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
  • 4LERMA, CNRS, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, Sorbonne Université, F-75005 Paris, France

  • *melissa.menu@lpp.polytechnique.fr
  • †sebastien.galtier@lpp.polytechnique.fr
  • ‡ludovic.petitdemange@lra.ens.fr
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 073701 – Published 12 July, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.4.073701

Abstract

We investigate the impact of a solid-body rotation Ω0 on the large-scale dynamics of an incompressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulent flow in presence of a background magnetic field B0 and at low Rossby number. Three-dimensional direct numerical simulations are performed in a periodic box, at unit magnetic Prandtl number and with a forcing at intermediate wave number kf=20. When Ω0 is aligned with B0 (i.e., θ≡Ω0,B0̂=0), inverse transfer is found for the magnetic spectrum at k<kf. This transfer is stronger when the forcing excites preferentially right-handed (rather than left-handed) fluctuations; it is smaller when θ>0 and becomes weak when θ≥35∘. These properties are understood as the consequence of an inverse cascade of hybrid helicity which is an inviscid/ideal invariant of this system when θ=0. Hybrid helicity emerges, therefore, as a key element for understanding rotating dynamos. Implication of these findings on the origin of the alignment of the magnetic dipole with the rotation axis in planets and stars is discussed.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 4, 073701– Published 12 July, 2019
  • Received 20 February 2019
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