Conversion of Internal Waves into Non-Dispersive waves: Part II Simulations

The character of internal waves changes with variations of the background in which they propagate. We present Boussinesq simulations of internal gravity waves in a magnetized fluid, which also supports non-dispersive magnetic waves. The simulations show that internal gravity waves are strongly altered as they propagate into regions of strong magnetic field. Theoretically, we expect complete conversion from internal gravity waves into magnetic waves in regions of strong field. We confirm this by comparing the simulation with a phase-integral approximation to the solution in terms of Mathieu functions. The approximate solution breaks down near critical layers where dissipation is expected to be important.