Intermittency in drift-wave turbulence: structure of the momentum flux probability distribution function

We analytically compute the probability distribution function (PDF) of the local Reynolds stress ( R) for forced Hasegawa-Mima turbulence. With the assumption that the PDF tail is due to an instanton with the spatial form given by the modon solution, the tail of the PDF of R is found to be a stretched, non-Gaussian exponential, with the specific form exp[-cR(3/2)] ( c is a constant). We relate the temporal localization of the instanton to the degree of "burstiness" of the momentum transport event.