Lagrangian evolution of field gradient tensor invariants in magneto-hydrodynamic theory

Abstract

In 1982 in a series of works Vielliefosse [1, 2] discussed a nonlinear homogeneous evolution equation for the velocity gradient tensor in fluid dynamics. Later Cantwell [3] extended this formalism to the non-homogeneous case including the effects of viscous diffusion and cross derivatives of pressure field. Here, we derive the evolution equations of the geometrical invariants of the magnetic and velocity field gradient tensors in the case of magneto-hydrodynamics for both non-homogeneous and homogeneous cases, i.e., considering or neglecting viscous effects and source terms. The inclusion of dissipation effects and higher-order gradient terms introduces a non trivial evolution of invariants, which can be treated as a stochastic evolution equation. Conversely, in the homogeneous case, the magnetic field invariants do not evolve, i.e., the magnetic field line topology is conserved, while the corresponding velocity invariants are affected by magnetic forces. By writing the equations of the velocity field invariants as a dynamical system we can identify the role of the different terms in the evolution equations. In detail, in the homogenous case we show that the term associated with the current density drives transitions between hyperbolic and elliptical structures. Evolution equations are also discussed in the perspective of an application to the analysis of magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence.