ENERGY-TRANSFER DYNAMICS OF DISSIPATIVE TRAPPED ION CONVECTIVE CELL TURBULENCE

The properties of the spectral energy transfer for a two-dimensional fluid representation of dissipative trapped ion convective cell turbulence are studied numerically using a spectral method. It is established that the spectral energy flow is from long to short wavelength, as governed (under the dynamics of the E X B nonlinearity) by a single quadratic invariant, the energy. This flow is correctly predicted by equilibrium statistical mechanics, as is the equilibrium spectrum. Examining the locality of energy flow, strong nonlocal energy transfer is observed, a process that efficiently transfers the energy of a mode across the spectrum in a correlation time. This transfer process deviates dramatically from the canonical self-similar cascade dynamics of Kolmogorov that typifies the cascade of two- and three-dimensional Navier-Stokes and Hasegawa-Mima drift wave turbulence. Anisotropy of the spectral transfer dynamics is also observed.