Three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of free-surface magnetohydrodynamic wave turbulence

Abstract: We report on three-dimensional direct numerical simulation of wave turbulence on the free surface of a magnetic fluid subjected to an external horizontal magnetic field. A transition from capillarywave turbulence to anisotropic magneto-capillary wave turbulence is observed for an increasing field. At high enough field, wave turbulence becomes highly anisotropic, cascading mainly perpendicularly to the field direction, in good agreement with the prediction of a phenomenological model, and with anisotropic Alfv{\'e}n wave turbulence. Although surface waves on a magnetic fluid are different from Alfv{\'e}n waves in plasma, a strong analogy is found with similar wave spectrum scalings and similar magnetic-field dependent dispersionless wave velocities.