At a college where I taught, there was a ‘Last Lecture’ series, in which the faculty took turns giving a public lecture that would be the lecture they would give if it were to be their very last one. The invitation to contribute a few nontechnical pages to this issue of Journal of Plasma Physics has a somewhat similar valedictory ring, and inspires mixed feelings.

The three-dimensional equations of ideal hydrodynamics and ideal MHD are expanded in eigenfunctions of the curl, and the resulting basic interactions of these nonlinear systems are analysed. As the equations are invariant under time and amplitude reversal, a criterion defining the arrow of time is introduced. A new parameter, the center of energy, serves to characterize a basic interaction. In the 3D Euler equations we find four different interactions and their mirror images, two of which can transport energy to smaller wavenumbers. This can lead to the appearance of structures in turbulent flow, and throws doubt on a derivation of Kolmogorov's law based on a cascading of energy to higher wavenumbers.In energy the corresponding two-dimensional equations, which are isomorphic to the guiding centre model in plasma physics, only one interaction exists, with a strong inverse cascade, which can lead to accumulation of energy in the spatially largest accessible modes. In MHD theory it is possible to separate magnetic from kinetic interactions. The former give again four basic interactions, two being regular and two being inverse cascades. One of these is quite strong, and can lead to the MHD dynamo effect. Kinetic energy can be transferred into magnetic energy. The dynamo effect is is accompanied by alignment of velocity and magnetic fields. We show that stationary velocity fields may lead to exponentially growing magnetic fields and we give an explicit criterion for this instability.

I review the current status of a problem, relevant to both plasma physics and ordinary fluid mechanics, namely the long-time behaviour of solutions of the perfect fluid equations. In two space dimensions, thanks in particular to the work of D. Montgomery, the situation is now quite clear, since one expects the formation at long times of large vortices in a background of potential flow. In three dimensions, the situation is blurred, although its understanding is a central issue for fully developped turbulence. I present some new estimates for a possible scenario of self-similar blow up of solutions of 3D Euler. That turns out to be a rather subtle question, if one tries to stay consistent with the conservation of circulation and of energy.

The entropy associated with absolute equilibrium ensemble theories of ideal, homogeneous, fluid and magnetofluid turbulence is discussed, and the three-dimensional fluid case is examined in detail. A σ function is defined, whose minimum value with respect to global parameters is the entropy. A comparison is made between the use of global functions σ and phase functions H (associated with the development of various H theorems of ideal turbulence). It is shown that the two approaches are complementary, though conceptually different: H theorems show that an isolated system tends to equilibrium, while σ functions allow the demonstration that entropy never decreases when two previously isolated systems are combined. This provides a more complete picture of entropy in the statistical mechanics of ideal fluids.

Montgomery and co-workers have developed a framework to describe the steady state of a turbulent magnetofluid, without the usual recourse to linearization. Thus the magnetic and velocity fields emerge in their fully nonlinear form as a consequence of the selective decays of the invariants of the system. Using this statistical theory of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, the pressure, magnetic and flow fields of a solar coronal loop have been determined. The spatial and time profiles of the loop pressure are derived. A comparison with the observed properties of the loops is made, whenever possible.

The basic set of equations describing nonlinear ion-acoustic waves in a cold collisionless plasma, in the limit of long wavelengths, is reconsidered. First, a travelling-wave solution is found up to third order by means of a straightforward perturbation approach based on the smallness of the wavenumber. As a result, a positive dressed solitary wave shows up, which is larger, taller and faster than the KdV soliton, the first-order result. Furthermore, the accuracy of this approach is tested and compared with previous result. Secondly, the reductive perturbation techique to study higher-order corrections is revised and adapted to the present problem.

From recent tokamak research, there is considerable experimental evidence that superthermal ions slow down and diffuse classically in the presence of turbulent fluctuations that cause anomalous transport of thermal ions. Further more, research on field-reversed configurations at Los Alamos is consistent with the view that kinetic effects suppress instability growth when the ratio of plasma radius to ion orbital radius is small; turbulence is enhanced and confinement degrades when this ratio increases. Motivated by these experiments, we consider a plasma consisting of large-orbit non-adiabatic ions and adiabatic electrons. For such a plasma, it is possible that the anomalous transport characteristic of tokamaks can be avoided and a compact reactor design becomes viable.

Absolute equilibrium statistical theory and numerical simulations are reviewed in the context of inverse cascades in two- and three-dimensional incompressible fluid and magnetofluid turbulence. Turbulent fluctuations of physically interesting quantities undergo inverse cascade to larger spatial scales, leading to self-organization under certain circumstances. In particular, most systems with more than one quadratic ideal invariant, or, having some kind of imposed anisotropy, exhibit inverse cascades. Anisotropic fluid turbulence in the presence of a uniform rotation and magnetofluid turbulence in the presence of a uniform magnetic field are considered.

The Josephson map describes the nonlinear dynamics of systems characterized by the standard map with a uniform external bias superposed. The intricate structures of the phase-space portrait of the Josephson map are examined here on the basis of the associated tangent map. A numerical investigation of stochastic diffusion in the Josephson map is compared with the renormalized diffusion coefficient calculated using the characteristic function. The global stochasticity of the Josephson map occurs at far smaller values of the stochastic parameter than is the case of the standard map.

Linear null points of a magnetic field may come together and coalesce at a secondorder null, or vice versa a second-order null may form and split, giving birth to a pair of linear nulls. Such local bifurcations lead to global changes of magnetic topology and in some cases release of magnetic energy. In two dimensions the null points are of X or O type and the flux function is a Hamiltonian; the magnetic field may undergo addle-centre, pitchfork or degenerate resonant bifurcations. In three dimensions the null points and their creation or annihilation by bifurcations are considerably more complex. The nulls possess a skeleton consisting of a spine curve and a fan surface and are of radial-type (proper or improper) or spiral-type; the type of null and the inclination of spine and fan depend on the magnitudes of the current components along and normal to the spine. In cylindrically symmetric fields a comprehensive treatment is given of the various types of saddle-node, Hopf and saddle-node—Hopfbifurcations. In fully three-dimensional situations examples are given of saddle-node and degenerate bifurcations, in which generically two nulls are created or destroyed and are joined by a separator field line, which is the intersection of the two fans. Furthermore, global bifurcations can create chaotic field lines that could perhaps trigger energy release in, for example, solar flares.

The hypothesis that the steady, or statistically steady, states of a magnetofluid can be predicted by minimizing the integral of the total energy dissipation is discussed in relation to theorems in fluid dynamics. A survey is made of the recent literature wherein the hypothesis is used to predict magnetofluid behaviour and some related work. A detailed discussion of boundary conditions is provided, and we close with a brief summary of the current state of research.

The Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation and two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) have ideal Lagrangian invariants that are used as the basis for most probable state analysis. An information-theoretic entropy defined in terms of the Lagrangian invariants leads to predictions for relationships between the field quantities. These relationships are tested through numerical solution of the equations through the turbulent relaxation of random initial conditions to coherent states. It is found that the predictions for the most probable state for the Charney—Hasegawa—Mima equation are essentially correct, whereas for two-dimensional MHD they are not. Questions and issues are raised pertaining to why a most probable state analysis based upon Lagrangian invariants seems to work in the case of the Charney—Hasegawa—Mima equation but not for two-dimensional MHIJ. A qualitatively correct entropy is proposed for two-dimensional MHD based upon field variables that are not local invariants.

We present the simple map for a single-null divertor tokamak. The simple map is an area-preserving map based on the idea that magnetic field lines are a single-degree- of-freedom time-dependent Hamiltonian system, and that the basic features of such systems near the X-point are generic. We obtain the properties of this map and the resulting footprints of field lines on the divertor plate. These include the width of the stochastic layer, the edge safety factor, the area of the footprint and the amount of magnetic flux diverted. We give the safety factor profile, the average and median values of strike angles, lengths and the Liapunov exponents. We describe how the effects of magnetic perturbations can be included in the simple map. We show how the map can be applied to the problem of the determination of heat flux on the divertor plate in tokamaks.

Using the ion-temperature-gradient-driven drift waves as a paradigm for drift-wave anomalous transport, we explore the structure of the linear and nonlinear modes. Two phases of transport are shown to exist: (i) Bohm-like transport for parameters close to marginal stability; (ii) gyro-Bohm transport for turbulent convection cells in systems driven away from marginal stability. Nonlinear relaxation to large-scale coherent convective structures is observed in three-dimensional toroidal particle simulations.

Most theoretical and computational studies of turbulence in Navier—Stokes fluids and/or guiding-centre plasmas have been carried out in the presence of spatially periodic boundary conditions. In view of the frequently reproduced result that two-dimensional and/or MHD decaying turbulence leads to structures comparable in length scale to a box dimension, it is natural to ask if periodic boundary conditions are an adequate representation of any physical situation. Here, we study, computationally, the decay of two-dimensional turbulence in a Navier—Stokes fluid or guiding-centre plasma in the presence of circular no-slip rigid walls. The method is wholly spectral, and relies on a Galerkin approximation by a set of functions that obey two boundary conditions at the wall radius (analogues of the Chandrasekhar— Reid functions). It is possible to explore Reynolds numbers up to the order of 1250, based on an RMS velocity and a box radius. It is found that decaying turbulence is altered significantly by the no-slip boundaries. First, strong boundary layers serve as sources of vorticity and enstrophy and enhance the early-time energy decay rate, for a given Reynolds number, well above the periodic boundary condition values. More importantly, angular momentum turns out to be an even more slowly decaying ideal invariant than energy, and to a considerable extent governs the dynamics of the decay. Angular momentum must be taken into account, for example, in order to achieve quantitative agreeement with the predicition of maximum entropy, or ‘most probable’, states. These are predicitions of conditions that are established after several eddy turnover times but before the energy has decayed away. Angular momentum will cascade to lower azimuthal mode numbers, even if absent there initially, and the angular momentum modal spectrum is eventually dominated by the lowest mode available. When no initial angular momentum is present, no behaviour that suggests the likelihood of inverse cascades is observed.

We report on results from direct numerical simulation of the incompressible three- dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, modified to incorporate viscous dissipation via the strongly anisotropic ion-parallel viscosity term. Both linear and nonlinear cases are considered, all with a strong background magnetic field. It is found that spectral anisotropy develops in almost all cases, but that the contribution from effects associated with the ion-parallel viscosity is relatively weak compared with the previously reported nonlinear process. Furthermore, and in contrast to this earlier work, it is suggested that when B0 is large, the anisotropy will develop and persist for many large-scale turnover times even for non-dissipative runs. Resistive dissipation is found to dominate over viscous even when the resistivity is several orders of magnitude smaller than the ion parallel viscosity. A variance anisotropy effect and anisotropy dependence on the polarization of the fluctuations are also observed.

A simple phenomenology is developed for the decay and transport of turbulence in a constant-speed, uniformly expanding medium. The fluctuations are assumed to be locally incompressible, and either of the hydrodynamic or non-Alfvénic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) type. In order to represent local effects of nonlinearities, a simple model of the Kaármá-Dryden type for locally homogeneous turbulent decay is adopted. A detailed discussion of the parameters of this familiar one-point hydrodynamic closure is given, which has been shown recently to be applicable to non-Alfvénic MHD as well. The effects of the large-scale flow and expansion are incorporated using a two-scale approach, in which assumptions of particular turbulence symmetries provide simplifications. The derived model is tractable and provides a basis for understanding turbulence in the outer heliosphere, as well as in other astrophysical applications.

We construct numerical examples of a ‘modon’ (counter-rotating vortices) in an Euler flow by exploiting the analogy between steady Euler flows and magnetostatic equilibria in a perfectly conducting fluid. A numerical modon solution can be found by determining its corresponding magnetostatic equilibrium, which we refer to as a ‘magnetic moclon’. Such an equilibrium is obtained numerically by a relaxation procedure that conserves the topology of the relaxing field. Our numerical results show how the shape of a magnetic modon depends on its ‘signature’ (magnetic flux profile), and that these magnetic modons are unexpectedly unstable to non-symmetric perturbations. Diffusion can change the topology of the field through a reconnection process and separate the two magnetic eddies. We further show that the analogous Euler flow (or modon) behaves similar to a perturbed Hill's vortex.