GENERATION OF STRONG MHD ALFVENIC TURBULENCE

Strong Alfvénic turbulence containing a number of solitonlike structures propagating at super-Alfvénic speeds is generated self-consistently and studied by means of computer simulation. A one-dimensional hybrid (kinetic ions, fluid electrons) code is used to investigate the nonlinear evolution of an electromagnetic ion-beam instability that generates low-frequency Alfvén-like waves. As the instability develops, the field-aligned hydromagnetic waves steepen, forming a soliton that bifurcates several times, leading to a fully turbulent state. © 1990 The American Physical Society.