Transient vortex structures in low frequency magnetized plasma turbulence

The nonlinear transient state of drift vortices often observed in computer simulations and experiments on low frequency magnetized plasma turbulence has been investigated. The essential problem is studied by considering a model in which a vortex is embedded in a strained perpendicular and parallel flow. In the axisymmetric limit the diffusion equation is solved exactly to display vortex generation, stretching and dissipation. In the nonaxisymmetric case, a perturbative solution is obtained which displays essentially the same features