Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Magnetohydrodynamics
- 3 Transition to turbulence
- 4 Macroscopic turbulence theory
- 5 Spectral properties and phenomenology
- 6 Two-point-closure theory
- 7 Intermittency
- 8 Two-dimensional turbulence
- 9 Compressible turbulence and turbulent convection
- 10 Turbulence in the solar wind
- 11 Turbulence in accretion disks
- 12 Interstellar turbulence
- Outlook
- References
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 August 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Magnetohydrodynamics
- 3 Transition to turbulence
- 4 Macroscopic turbulence theory
- 5 Spectral properties and phenomenology
- 6 Two-point-closure theory
- 7 Intermittency
- 8 Two-dimensional turbulence
- 9 Compressible turbulence and turbulent convection
- 10 Turbulence in the solar wind
- 11 Turbulence in accretion disks
- 12 Interstellar turbulence
- Outlook
- References
- Index
Summary
Turbulence in electrically conducting fluids is necessarily accompanied by magnetic-field fluctuations, which will, in general, strongly influence the dynamics. It is true that, in our terrestrial world, conducting fluids in turbulent motion are rare. In astrophysics, however, material is mostly ionized and strong turbulence is a widespread phenomenon, for instance in stellar convection zones and stellar winds and in the interstellar medium. Turbulent magnetic fields are therefore expected to play an important role. Despite the fact that, on a microscopic level, astrophysical plasmas exhibit rather diverse properties, a unified macroscopic treatment in the framework of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to describe the most important magnetic effects is appropriate. Hence there is much interest in MHD turbulence in the astrophysical community. Considerable interest comes also from the side of pure theory, where MHD turbulence introduces new concepts into turbulence theory, as the large number of articles on this topic in the literature shows. However, to date no monograph on MHD turbulence seems to have been written. I therefore believe that a treatise both introducing the field and reviewing the current state of the art could be welcome.
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- Information
- Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence , pp. xi - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003
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