2010/08/19 by Colm Connaughton, Sergey Nazarenko, Connaughton, Colm +3
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · #Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid Dynamics and Turbulent Flows #Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations #Ocean Waves and Remote Sensing #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1008.3338
openalex publication_date 2010/08/19 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We demonstrate theoretically and numerically the zonal-flow/drift-wave feedback mechanism for the LH transition in an idealised model of plasma turbulence driven by a small scale instability. Zonal flows are generated by a secondary modulational instability of the modes which are directly driven by the primary instability. The zonal flows then suppress the small scales thereby arresting the energy injection into the system, a process which can be described using nonlocal wave turbulence theory. Finally, the arrest of the energy input results in saturation of the zonal flows at a level which can be estimated from the theory and the system reaches stationarity without damping of the large scales.