Magnetic diffusivity (${\eta }_m=1/({\mu }_0\sigma )$)

Magnetic diffusivity is the coefficient of magnetic diffusion. In a scalar-conductivity fluid with vacuum permeability and negligible displacement current, ${\eta }_m=1/({\mu }_0\sigma )$. Its dimensions are length squared per time, and a diffusion time on scale $L$ is $L^2/{\eta }_m$.

The magnetic Prandtl number compares kinematic viscosity with magnetic diffusivity. It is the ratio of the viscous and magnetic diffusion coefficients; equivalently it is the magnetic Reynolds number divided by the Reynolds number when the same speed and length scale are used.

Turbulent magnetic diffusivity is an effective transport coefficient produced by correlated small-scale velocity and magnetic field. It supplements microscopic magnetic diffusivity in a mean-field dynamo description. Its identification requires a specified mean-field geometry and averaging procedure; in a planar flux problem, the correlation $\overline{w{a}^{\prime }}=-{\eta }_t{B}_{0}f(z)$ describes transport relative to a prescribed uniform field.

For $\overline{w{a}^{\prime }}=-{\eta }_t{B}_{0}f$, $⟨f⟩=1$ and positive diffusivities, the Zeldovich planar flux balance gives $G=({\eta }_t/\eta )B_0^2[1-({\eta }_t/\eta )\mathrm{Var}(f)]$, where $G=⟨|\nabla a^{\prime }{|}^2⟩$. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and a Poincaré inequality $⟨a^{\prime 2}⟩\le d^{2}G/{\pi }^2$ give ${\eta }_t^2\mathrm{Var}(f)\le ⟨w^2⟩d^{2}s(1-s)/{\pi }^2$, with $s=({\eta }_t/\eta )\mathrm{Var}(f)\in [0,1]$. Maximizing $s(1-s)$ gives the displayed bound. Large turbulent-to-microscopic diffusivity therefore requires $f$ to be close to one in mean square, without guaranteeing pointwise uniformity.