Ion parallel viscosity and anisotropy in MHD turbulence

Abstract

We report on results from direct numerical simulation of the incompressible three- dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, modified to incorporate viscous dissipation via the strongly anisotropic ion-parallel viscosity term. Both linear and nonlinear cases are considered, all with a strong background magnetic field. It is found that spectral anisotropy develops in almost all cases, but that the contribution from effects associated with the ion-parallel viscosity is relatively weak compared with the previously reported nonlinear process. Furthermore, and in contrast to this earlier work, it is suggested that when B₀ is large, the anisotropy will develop and persist for many large-scale turnover times even for non-dissipative runs. Resistive dissipation is found to dominate over viscous even when the resistivity is several orders of magnitude smaller than the ion parallel viscosity. A variance anisotropy effect and anisotropy dependence on the polarization of the fluctuations are also observed.