Detailed analytical investigation of magnetic field line random walk in turbulent plasmas: I. Two-component slab/two-dimensional turbulence

2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 657-677 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. KOURAKIS ◽  
A. SHALCHI
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Mean Square Displacement ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Asymptotic Result ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Plasma Parameters ◽  
Diffusive Regime ◽  
Two Component ◽  
Field Lines

AbstractThe random displacement of magnetic field lines in the presence of magnetic turbulence in plasmas is investigated from first principles. A two-component (slab/two-dimensional composite) model for the turbulence spectrum is employed. An analytical investigation of the asymptotic behavior of the field-line mean square displacement (FL-MSD) is carried out. It is shown that the magnetic field lines behave superdiffusively for very large values of the position variable z, since the FL-MSD σ varies as σ ~ z4/3. An intermediate diffusive regime may also possibly exist for finite values of z under conditions which are explicitly determined in terms of the intrinsic turbulent plasma parameters. The superdiffusive asymptotic result is confirmed numerically via an iterative algorithm. The relevance to previous results is discussed.

Detailed analytical investigation of magnetic field line random walk in turbulent plasmas: II. Isotropic turbulence

2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. KOURAKIS ◽  
R. C. TAUTZ ◽  
A. SHALCHI
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Random Walk ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Isotropic Turbulence ◽  
Mean Square Displacement ◽  
Analytical Investigation ◽  
Turbulence Spectrum ◽  
Quasilinear Theory ◽  
Magnetic Turbulence ◽  
Field Lines

AbstractThe random walk of magnetic field lines in the presence of magnetic turbulence in plasmas is investigated from first principles. An isotropic model is employed for the magnetic turbulence spectrum. An analytical investigation of the asymptotic behavior of the field-line mean-square displacement 〈(Δx)2〉 is carried out, in terms of the position variable z. It is shown that 〈(Δx)2〉 varies as ~z ln z for large distance z. This result corresponds to a superdiffusive behavior of field line wandering. This investigation complements previous work, which relied on a two-component model for the turbulence spectrum. Contrary to that model, quasilinear theory appears to provide an adequate description of the field-line random walk for isotropic turbulence.

MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION BY RELATIVISTIC SHOCKS IN AN INHOMOGENEOUS MEDIUM

2012 ◽  
Vol 08 ◽  
pp. 364-367
Author(s):  
YOSUKE MIZUNO ◽  
MARTIN POHL ◽  
JACEK NIEMIEC ◽  
BING ZHANG ◽  
KEN-ICHI NISHIKAWA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Inhomogeneous Medium ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Filamentary Structure ◽  
Field Amplification ◽  
Relativistic Shocks ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations

We perform two-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of a mildly relativistic shock propagating through an inhomogeneous medium. We show that the postshock region becomes turbulent owing to preshock density inhomogeneity, and the magnetic field is strongly amplified due to the stretching and folding of field lines in the turbulent velocity field. The amplified magnetic field evolves into a filamentary structure in two-dimensional simulations. The magnetic energy spectrum is flatter than the Kolmogorov spectrum and indicates that the so-called small-scale dynamo is occurring in the postshock region. We also find that the amplitude of magnetic-field amplification depends on the direction of the mean preshock magnetic field.

scholarly journals The development of magnetic field line wander by plasma turbulence

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory G. Howes ◽  
Sofiane Bourouaine
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Magnetic Field Line ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Plasma Turbulence ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Astrophysical Plasmas ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Plasma turbulence occurs ubiquitously in space and astrophysical plasmas, mediating the nonlinear transfer of energy from large-scale electromagnetic fields and plasma flows to small scales at which the energy may be ultimately converted to plasma heat. But plasma turbulence also generically leads to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads through the plasma. The resulting wander of the magnetic field lines may significantly impact a number of important physical processes, including the propagation of cosmic rays and energetic particles, confinement in magnetic fusion devices and the fundamental processes of turbulence, magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration. The various potential impacts of magnetic field line wander are reviewed in detail, and a number of important theoretical considerations are identified that may influence the development and saturation of magnetic field line wander in astrophysical plasma turbulence. The results of nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence of sub-ion length scales are evaluated to understand the development and saturation of the turbulent magnetic energy spectrum and of the magnetic field line wander. It is found that turbulent space and astrophysical plasmas are generally expected to contain a stochastic magnetic field due to the tangling of the field by strong plasma turbulence. Future work will explore how the saturated magnetic field line wander varies as a function of the amplitude of the plasma turbulence and the ratio of the thermal to magnetic pressure, known as the plasma beta.

scholarly journals Random Walk and Trapping of Interplanetary Magnetic Field Lines: Global Simulation, Magnetic Connectivity, and Implications for Solar Energetic Particles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ruffolo ◽  
Rohit Chhiber ◽  
William H. Matthaeus ◽  
Arcadi V. Usmanov ◽  
Paisan Tooprakai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Random Walk ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Source Region ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Energetic Particles ◽  
Solar Energetic Particles ◽  
Field Lines

<p>The random walk of magnetic field lines is an important ingredient in understanding how the connectivity of the magnetic field affects the spatial transport and diffusion of charged particles. As solar energetic particles (SEPs) propagate away from near-solar sources, they interact with the fluctuating magnetic field, which modifies their distributions. We develop a formalism in which the differential equation describing the field line random walk contains both effects due to localized magnetic displacements and a non-stochastic contribution from the large-scale expansion. We use this formalism together with a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the inner-heliospheric solar wind, which includes a turbulence transport model, to estimate the diffusive spreading of magnetic field lines that originate in different regions of the solar atmosphere. We first use this model to quantify field line spreading at 1 au, starting from a localized solar source region, and find rms angular spreads of about 20 – 60 degrees. In the second instance, we use the model to estimate the size of the source regions from which field lines observed at 1 au may have originated, thus quantifying the uncertainty in calculations of magnetic connectivity; the angular uncertainty is estimated to be about 20 degrees. Finally, we estimate the filamentation distance, i.e., the heliocentric distance up to which field lines originating in magnetic islands can remain strongly trapped in filamentary structures. We emphasize the key role of slab-like fluctuations in the transition from filamentary to more diffusive transport at greater heliocentric distances. This research has been supported in part by grant RTA6280002 from Thailand Science Research and Innovation and the Parker Solar Probe mission under the ISOIS project (contract NNN06AA01C) and a subcontract to University of Delaware from Princeton University (SUB0000165).  MLG acknowledges support from the Parker Solar Probe FIELDS MAG team.  Additional support is acknowledged from the  NASA LWS program  (NNX17AB79G) and the HSR program (80NSSC18K1210 & 80NSSC18K1648).</p>

scholarly journals MHD Models of Galactic Center Lobes, Shells, and Filaments

1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 379-380
Author(s):  
Kazunari Shibata ◽  
Ryoji Matsumoto
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Galactic Center ◽  
Transient State ◽  
Rotating Disk ◽  
Quasi Equilibrium ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
Field Lines

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) mechanisms producing radio lobes, shells, and filaments in the Galactic center as well as in the gas disk of the Galaxy are studied by using two-dimensional MHD code: (a) the explosion in a magnetized disk, (b) the interaction of a rotating disk with vertical fields, and (c) the nonlinear Parker instability in toroidal magnetic fields in a disk. In all cases, dense shells or filaments are created along magnetic field lines in a transient state, in contrast to the quasi-equilibrium filaments perpendicular to magnetic fields.

scholarly journals Quantitative estimations of the anomalous plasma diffusion in an active region

1968 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 131-133
Author(s):  
M. Kopecký ◽  
G. V. Kuklin
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Active Region ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Solar Atmosphere ◽  
Plasma Diffusion ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

In some recent papers the interdependence of the gas and magnetic-field motions in the solar atmosphere was considered. Some results indicate the occurrence of gas motion along the magnetic-field lines combined with motion of the field line, but sometimes we have to assume an obvious gas motion across the magnetic-field lines. As one of the possible mechanisms explaining this fact the anomalous plasma diffusion may be proposed.

scholarly journals Rotation of the magnetic field in Earth's magnetosheath by bulk magnetosheath plasma flow

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 339-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Longmore ◽  
S. J. Schwartz ◽  
E. A. Lucek
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Plasma Flow ◽  
Mean Value ◽  
Flow Coupling ◽  
Parker Spiral ◽  
Magnetic Field Model ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Orientations of the observed magnetic field in Earth's dayside magnetosheath are compared with the predicted field line-draping pattern from the Kobel and Flückiger static magnetic field model. A rotation of the overall magnetosheath draping pattern with respect to the model prediction is observed. For an earthward Parker spiral, the sense of the rotation is typically clockwise for northward IMF and anticlockwise for southward IMF. The rotation is consistent with an interpretation which considers the twisting of the magnetic field lines by the bulk plasma flow in the magnetosheath. Histogram distributions describing the differences between the observed and model magnetic field clock angles in the magnetosheath confirm the existence and sense of the rotation. A statistically significant mean value of the IMF rotation in the range 5°-30° is observed in all regions of the magnetosheath, for all IMF directions, although the associated standard deviation implies large uncertainty in the determination of an accurate value for the rotation. We discuss the role of field-flow coupling effects and dayside merging on field line draping in the magnetosheath in view of the evidence presented here and that which has previously been reported by Kaymaz et al. (1992).

scholarly journals Differential rotation in neutron stars with open and closed magnetic topologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (3) ◽  
pp. 3095-3109
Author(s):  
F Anzuini ◽  
A Melatos
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Open Field ◽  
Flux Tube ◽  
Differential Rotation ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Outer Sphere ◽  
Closed Field ◽  
Magnetic Tension ◽  
Field Lines

ABSTRACT Analytic arguments have been advanced that the degree of differential rotation in a neutron star depends on whether the topology of the internal magnetic field is open or closed. To test this assertion, the ideal-magnetohydrodynamics solver pluto is employed to investigate numerically the flow of an incompressible, viscous fluid threaded by a magnetic field with open and closed topologies in a conducting, differentially rotating, spherical shell. Rigid body corotation with the outer sphere is enforced on the Alfvén time-scale, along magnetic field lines that connect the northern and southern hemispheres of the outer sphere. Along other field lines, however, the behaviour is more complicated. For example, an initial point dipole field evolves to produce an approximately closed equatorial flux tube containing at least one predominantly toroidal and approximately closed field line surrounded by a bundle of predominantly toroidal but open field lines. Inside the equatorial flux tube, the field-line-averaged magnetic tension approaches zero, and the fluid rotates differentially, adjusting its angular velocity on the viscous time-scale to match the boundary conditions on the flux tube’s toroidal surface. Outside the equatorial flux tube, the differential rotation increases, as the magnetic tension averaged along open field lines decreases.

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