The spectral properties of nonlinear turbulent dynamics of ideal quadratic invariants are studied by analyzing high-resolution direct numerical simulations of incompressible hydrodynamic and magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. An accurate numerical approach toward analyzing nonlinear turbulent interactions is presented. Every wavenumber triad associated with the nonlinear terms of the differential equations of Navier-Stokes and MHD in the inertial range is examined numerically. The spectral locality property and the cascade direction of ideal invariants are determined. For kinetic energy in 2D-HD, mean square magnetic vector potential in 2D-MHD, and magnetic helicity in 3D-MHD transfer functions are found to be nonlocal and exhibit an inverse cascade. For all other quantities the transfer functions are local with a direct cascade.
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