"Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence follows Kolmogorov scaling"

Presented by Dr. Mahendra Verma, Professor, from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India

Two competing theories of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence are given by Iroshnikov-Kraichnan and Kolmogorov. The problem of scaling in isotropic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence has remained unresolved, with competing predictions of k^-5/3 (Kolmogorov) and k^-3/2 (Iroshnikov-Kraichnan) scalings. In this talk I will present  results of high-resolution numerical simulations on 8192² and 1024³ grids. The computed energy spectra are closer to k^-5/3 than k^-3/2. More importantly, our detailed analyses of structure functions, intermittency exponents, and energy fluxes demonstrate robust support for Kolmogorov scaling.  Our findings firmly establish Kolmogorov scaling in MHD turbulence and significantly improve the theoretical foundations for modeling astrophysical turbulence and dynamo processes.