Rapid generation of angular momentum in bounded magnetized plasma

Phys Rev Lett. 2008 Dec 5;101(23):235003. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.235003. Epub 2008 Dec 2.

Abstract

Direct numerical simulations of two-dimensional decaying MHD turbulence in bounded domains show the rapid generation of angular momentum in nonaxisymmetric geometries. It is found that magnetic fluctuations enhance this mechanism. On a larger time scale, the generation of a magnetic angular momentum, or angular field, is observed. For axisymmetric geometries, the generation of angular momentum is absent; nevertheless, a weak magnetic field can be observed. The derived evolution equations for both the angular momentum and angular field yield possible explanations for the observed behavior.