NUMERICAL-ANALYSIS OF QUASI-PERIODIC PERTURBATIONS FOR THE ALFVEN-WAVE

The Alfven wave may have a localized eigenfunction when it propagates on a chaotic magnetic field. The Arnold-Beltrami-Childress (ABC) flow is a paradigm of chaotic stream lines and is a simple exact solution t o the three-dimensional force-free plasma equilibrium equations. The t hree-dimensional structure of the magnetic field is represented by sin usoidal quasiperiodic modulation. The short wavelength Alfven wave equ ation for the ABC-flow magnetic field has a quasiperiodic potential te rm, which induces interference among ''Bragg-reflected'' waves with ir regular phases. Then the eigenfunction decays at long distance and a p oint spectrum occurs. Two different types of short wavelength modes ha ve been numerically analyzed to demonstrate the existence of localized Alfven wave eigenmodes.