Local relaxation and scale-dependent alignment in compressible, magnetized turbulence

Driven net- and no-net-flux MHD turbulence simulations up to $10,\text{\hspace{0.17em}⁣}{368}^3$ reveal sign-mixed velocity-magnetic, velocity-vorticity, and magnetic-current aligned patches below the energy equipartition scale. The first two angles scale as ${\lambda }^{1\mathrm{/}8}$ and ${\lambda }^{1\mathrm{/}16}$, while magnetic-current alignment varies weakly with scale. We develop and test a constant-flux transport model for departures from relaxed states, which predicts both exponents. These findings affect eddy anisotropy, reconnection-mediated turbulence onset, large-scale dynamos, and the nature of magnetized turbulence.