Generation of Solenoidal Modes in Turbulence Driven by Compressive Driving

In this talk, we present numerical simulations of driven hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence with weak/strong imposed magnetic fields. We mainly focus on turbulence driven compressively (∇ × f = 0). Our main goal is to examine how magnetic fields play a role in generating solenoidal modes in compressive turbulence. From our simulation analysis, we find that solenoidal energy densities in hydrodynamic and weak magnetic field cases are generated up to ~ 30% of total ones. On the other hand, in the case of strong magnetic fields, solenoidal energy densities are excited up to ~ 70%. To interpret the results, we further analyze vorticity (w = ∇ × u) equation and find that magnetic fields directly create solenoidal motions, and magnetic tension is most effective in this sense. In hydrodynamic simulations, however, we find that viscous dissipation provides vorticity seeds at the very early stage and they are amplified via stretching process. Lastly, in weak magnetic fields cases, we find that solenoidal motions are created by the effects of magnetic fields, viscosity, and stretching in conjunction.