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Title: NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMBALANCED STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE

Abstract

Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is invoked to address turbulent fluctuations in a variety of astrophysical systems. MHD turbulence in nature is often anisotropic and imbalanced, in that Alfvenic fluctuations moving in opposite directions along the background magnetic field carry unequal energies. This work formulates specific requirements for effective numerical simulations of strong imbalanced MHD turbulence with a guide field B {sub 0}. High-resolution simulations are then performed and they suggest that the spectra of the counterpropagating Alfven modes do not differ from the balanced case, while their amplitudes and the corresponding rates of energy cascades are significantly affected by the imbalance. It is further proposed that the stronger the imbalance the larger the magnetic Reynolds number that is required in numerical simulations in order to correctly reproduce the turbulence spectrum. This may explain current discrepancies among numerical simulations and observations of imbalanced MHD turbulence.

Authors:
;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin at Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
21301302
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 710; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/2041-8205/710/1/L63; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; 99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; ANISOTROPY; ASTROPHYSICS; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; MAGNETIC FIELDS; MAGNETIC REYNOLDS NUMBER; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS; SOLAR WIND; SPECTRA; TURBULENCE

Citation Formats

Perez, Jean Carlos, and Boldyrev, Stanislav. NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMBALANCED STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE. United States: N. p., 2010. Web. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/710/1/L63; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA).
Perez, Jean Carlos, & Boldyrev, Stanislav. NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMBALANCED STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/710/1/L63; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)
Perez, Jean Carlos, and Boldyrev, Stanislav. 2010. "NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMBALANCED STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/710/1/L63; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA).
@article{osti_21301302,
title = {NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF IMBALANCED STRONG MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC TURBULENCE},
author = {Perez, Jean Carlos and Boldyrev, Stanislav},
abstractNote = {Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is invoked to address turbulent fluctuations in a variety of astrophysical systems. MHD turbulence in nature is often anisotropic and imbalanced, in that Alfvenic fluctuations moving in opposite directions along the background magnetic field carry unequal energies. This work formulates specific requirements for effective numerical simulations of strong imbalanced MHD turbulence with a guide field B {sub 0}. High-resolution simulations are then performed and they suggest that the spectra of the counterpropagating Alfven modes do not differ from the balanced case, while their amplitudes and the corresponding rates of energy cascades are significantly affected by the imbalance. It is further proposed that the stronger the imbalance the larger the magnetic Reynolds number that is required in numerical simulations in order to correctly reproduce the turbulence spectrum. This may explain current discrepancies among numerical simulations and observations of imbalanced MHD turbulence.},
doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/710/1/L63; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/21301302}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal Letters},
issn = {2041-8205},
number = 1,
volume = 710,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2010},
month = {Wed Feb 10 00:00:00 EST 2010}
}