The role of helicity in turbulent MHD flows

We have studied the behavior of a helical homogeneous small-scale MHD turbulent flow under the influence of a weak inhomogeneous large-scale disturbance. We have shown that turbulent energy redistribution in the presence of nonzero helicity occurs mainly over large scales. Helicity increases correlation time, leading to the weakening of a direct cascade and to the formation of steep spectra over small scales, with simultaneous turbulent energy growth over large scales. Furthermore, an expression for the effective viscosity of the mean flow is derived. It is shown that the magnetic field, in addition to the helicity, reduces the effective viscosity of the medium. This may be important in the study of MHD flow around obstacles in the presence of an external magnetic field. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 171–181 (July 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.