Wavelet characterization of 2D turbulence and intermittency in magnetized electron plasmas

Abstract

A study of the free relaxation of turbulence in a two-dimensional (2D) flow is presented, with a focus on the role of the initial vorticity conditions. Exploiting a well-known analogy with 2D inviscid incompressible fluids, the system investigated here is a magnetized pure electron plasma. The dynamics of this system are simulated by means of a 2D particle-in-cell code, starting from different spiral density (vorticity) distributions.A wavelet multiresolution analysis is adopted, which allows the coherent and incoherent parts of the flow to be separated. Comparison of the turbulent evolution in the different cases is based on the investigation of the time evolution of statistical properties, including the probability distribution functions and structure functions of the vorticity increments. It is also based on an analysis of the enstrophy evolution and its spectrum for the two components.In particular, while the statistical features assess the degree of flow intermittency, spectral analysis allows us not only to estimate the time required to reach a state of fully developed turbulence, but also estimate its dependence on the thickness of the initial spiral density distribution, accurately tracking the dynamics of both the coherent structures and the turbulent background. The results are compared with those relevant to annular initial vorticity distributions (Chen et al 2015 J. Plasma Phys. 81 495810511).