Reduced Lorenz models for anomalous transport and profile resilience

The physical basis for the Lorenz equations for convective cells in stratified fluids, and for magnetized plasmas imbedded in curved magnetic fields, are reexamined with emphasis on anomalous transport. It is shown that the Galerkin truncation leading to the Lorenz equations for the closed boundary problem is incompatible with finite fluxes through the system in the limit of vanishing diffusion. An alternative formulation leading to the Lorenz equations is proposed, invoking open boundaries and the notion of convective streamers and their back-reaction on the profile gradient, giving rise to resilience of the profile. Particular emphasis is put on the diffusionless limit, where these equations reduce to a simple dynamical system depending only on one single forcing parameter. This model is studied numerically, stressing experimentally observable signatures, and some of the perils of dimension-reducing approximations are discussed.(c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.