TOWARDS A SIMPLE-MODEL OF COMPRESSIBLE ALFVENIC TURBULENCE

A simple model of collisionless, dissipative, compressible magnetohtdr odynamics (Alfvenic) turbulence in a magnetized system is investigated . In contrast to more familiar paradigms of turbulence, dissipation ar ises from Landau damping, enters via nonlinearity, and is distributed over all scales. The theory predicts that two different regimes or pha ses of turbulence are possible, depending on the ratio of steepening t o damping coefficient (m(1)/m(2)). For strong damping (\m(1)/m(2)\<1), a regime of smooth, hydrodynamic turbulence is predicted. For \m(1)/m (2)\>1, steady state turbulence does not exist in the hydrodynamic lim it. Rather, spikey, small scale structure is predicted.