Direct numerical simulations of isotropically forced homogeneous stationary turbulence with an imposed passive scalar concentration gradient are compared with an analytical closure model which provides evolution equations for the mean passive scalar
flux and variance. Triple correlations of fluctuations appearing in these equations are described in terms of relaxation terms proportional to the quadratic correlations. Three methods are used to extract the relaxation timescales tau_i from direct numerical simulations. Firstly, we insert the closure ansatz into our equations, assume stationarity, and solve for tau_i. Secondly, we use only the closure ansatz itself and obtain tau_i from the ratio of quadratic and triple correlations. Thirdly we remove the imposed passive scalar gradient and fit an exponential decay law to the solution. We vary the Reynolds (Re) and Peclet (Pe) numbers while keeping their ratio at unity and the degree of scale separation and find for large Re fair correspondence between the different methods. The ratio of the turbulent relaxation time of passive scalar flux to the turnover time of turbulent eddies is of the order of three, which is in remarkable agreement with earlier work. Finally we make an effort to extract the relaxation timescales relevant for the viscous and diffusive effects. We find two regimes which are valid for small and large Re, respectively, but the dependence of the parameters on scale separation suggests that they are not universal.
Recent observations revealed that small magnetic elements abundant at the solar surface move poleward with a velocity which seems to be lower than the plasma velocity $U_{theta}$. Guerrero et al. (2011) explained this discrepancy as a consequence of
diffusive spreading of the magnetic elements due to a positive radial gradient of $|U_{theta}|$. As the gradients sign (inferred by local helioseismology) is still unclear, cases with a negative gradient are studied in this paper. Under this condition, the velocity of the magnetic tracers turns out to be larger than the plasma velocity, in disagreement with the observations. Alternative mechanisms for explaining them independently are proposed. For the turbulent magnetic pumping it is shown that it has to be unrealistically strong to reconcile the model with the observations.
When scale separation in space and time is poor, the alpha effect and turbulent diffusivity have to be replaced by integral kernels. Earlier work in computing these kernels using the test-field method is now generalized to the case in which both spat
ial and temporal scale separations are poor. The approximate form of the kernel is such that it can be treated in a straightforward manner by solving a partial differential equation for the mean electromotive force. The resulting mean-field equations are solved for oscillatory alpha-shear dynamos as well as alpha^2 dynamos in which alpha is antisymmetric about the equator, making this dynamo also oscillatory. In both cases, the critical values of the dynamo number is lowered by the fact that the dynamo is oscillatory.
We simulate the magnetic feature tracking (MFT) speed using advective-diffusive transport models in both one and two dimensions. By depositing magnetic bipolar regions at different latitudes at the Suns surface and following their evolution for a pre
scribed meridional circulation and magnetic diffusivity profiles, we derive the MFT speed as a function of latitude. We find that in a one dimensional surface-transport model the simulated MFT speed at the surface is always the same as the meridional flow-speed used as input to the model, but is different in a two-dimensional transport model in the meridional (r,theta) plane. The difference depends on the value of the magnetic diffusivity and on the radial gradient of the latitudinal velocity. We have confirmed our results with two different codes in spherical and Cartesian coordinates.
Aims: The test-field method for computing turbulent transport coefficients from simulations of hydromagnetic flows is extended to the regime with a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) background. Methods: A generalized set of test equations is derived using bo
th the induction equation and a modified momentum equation. By employing an additional set of auxiliary equations, we derive linear equations describing the response of the system to a set of prescribed test fields. Purely magnetic and MHD backgrounds are emulated by applying an electromotive force in the induction equation analogously to the ponderomotive force in the momentum equation. Both forces are chosen to have Roberts flow-like geometry. Results: Examples with an MHD background are studied where the previously used quasi-kinematic test-field method breaks down. In cases with homogeneous mean fields it is shown that the generalized test-field method produces the same results as the imposed-field method, where the field-aligned component of the actual electromotive force from the simulation is used. Furthermore, results for the turbulent diffusivity tensor are given, which are inaccessible to the imposed-field method. For MHD backgrounds, new mean-field effects are found that depend on the occurrence of cross-correlations between magnetic and velocity fluctuations. For strong imposed fields, $alpha$ is found to be quenched proportional to the fourth power of the field strength, regardless of the type of background studied.
The effect of a dynamo-generated mean magnetic field of Beltrami type on the mean electromotive force is studied. In the absence of the mean magnetic field the turbulence is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic, but it becomes inhomogeneous and an
isotropic with this field. Using the testfield method the dependence of the alpha and turbulent diffusivity tensors on the magnetic Reynolds number Rm is determined for magnetic fields that have reached approximate equipartition with the velocity field. The tensor components are characterized by a pseudoscalar alpha and a scalar turbulent magnetic diffusivity etat. Increasing Rm from 2 to 600 reduces etat by a factor ~5, suggesting that the quenching of etat is, in contrast to the 2-dimensional case, only weakly dependent on Rm. Over the same range of Rm, however, alpha is reduced by a factor ~14, which can qualitatively be explained by a corresponding increase of a magnetic contribution to the alpha effect with opposite sign. The level of fluctuations of alpha and etat is only 10% and 20% of the respective kinematic reference values.
The turbulent magnetic diffusivity tensor is determined in the presence of rotation or shear. The question is addressed whether dynamo action from the shear-current effect can explain large-scale magnetic field generation found in simulations with sh
ear. For this purpose a set of evolution equations for the response to imposed test fields is solved with turbulent and mean motions calculated from the momentum and continuity equations. The corresponding results for the electromotive force are used to calculate turbulent transport coefficients. The diagonal components of the turbulent magnetic diffusivity tensor are found to be very close together, but their values increase slightly with increasing shear and decrease with increasing rotation rate. In the presence of shear, the sign of the two off-diagonal components of the turbulent magnetic diffusion tensor is the same and opposite to the sign of the shear. This implies that dynamo action from the shear--current effect is impossible, except perhaps for high magnetic Reynolds numbers. However, even though there is no alpha effect on the average, the components of the alpha tensor display Gaussian fluctuations around zero. These fluctuations are strong enough to drive an incoherent alpha--shear dynamo. The incoherent shear--current effect, on the other hand, is found to be subdominant.
