Abstract
On the basis of three-dimensional time-dependent numerical simulations, we find that compressible magnetohydrodynamic fluids describing super-Alfvenic, supersonic, and strongly magnetized space and laboratory plasmas decay progressively to a state of near-incompressibility, characterized by a subsonic turbulent Mach number. This transition is mediated dynamically by disparate spectral energy dissipation rates in compressible magnetosonic and shear Alfvenic modes. Dissipation leads to super-Alfvenic turbulent motions decaying to a sub-Alfvenic regime that couples weakly with (magneto-) acoustic cascades. Consequently, the supersonic plasma motion dissipates into highly subsonic motion and density fluctuations experience a passive convection.
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