Anisotropies in 3D Driven Plasma Turbulence

The energy spectrum dependence on wave number in a turbulent plasma with a background magnetic field remains an unresolved issue in our understanding of plasma turbulence. Most theories assume that the turbulence in the direction perpendicular to the background magnetic field can be treated as isotropic. However, Boldyrev [1] presented a theory in which driven turbulence would have an anisotropic structure in the perpendicular direction. Using a three-dimensional pseudo-spectral code, we investigate the energy flux and spectrum of plasma turbulence as described by the isothermal electron fluid model [2]. Special care is taken to analyze these quantities parallel to the velocity and magnetic field perturbations. \\[0pt] [1] S. Boldyrev, \textit{Spectrum of Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence}. PRL 96, 115002 (2006). \\ {} [2] A. A. Schekochihin, et al., \textit{Astrophysical gyrokinetics: kinetic and fluid turbulent cascades in magnetized weakly collisional plasmas}, submitted ApJ. Suppl. (2007).