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Title: Imbalanced relativistic force-free magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Abstract

When magnetic energy density is much larger than that of matter, as in pulsar/black hole magnetospheres, the medium becomes force-free and we need relativity to describe it. As in non-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Alfvénic MHD turbulence in the relativistic limit can be described by interactions of counter-traveling wave packets. In this paper, we numerically study strong imbalanced MHD turbulence in such environments. Here, imbalanced turbulence means the waves traveling in one direction (dominant waves) have higher amplitudes than the opposite-traveling waves (sub-dominant waves). We find that (1) spectrum of the dominant waves is steeper than that of sub-dominant waves, (2) the anisotropy of the dominant waves is weaker than that of sub-dominant waves, and (3) the dependence of the ratio of magnetic energy densities of dominant and sub-dominant waves on the ratio of energy injection rates is steeper than quadratic (i.e., b{sub +}{sup 2}/b{sub −}{sup 2}∝(ϵ{sub +}/ϵ{sub −}){sup n} with n > 2). These results are consistent with those obtained for imbalanced non-relativistic Alfvénic turbulence. This corresponds well to the earlier reported similarity of the relativistic and non-relativistic balanced magnetic turbulence.

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Department of Astronomy and Space Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22348365
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 780; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ALFVEN WAVES; AMPLITUDES; ANISOTROPY; BLACK HOLES; ENERGY DENSITY; INJECTION; INTERACTIONS; MAGNETIC BALANCES; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS; NUMERICAL ANALYSIS; PULSARS; SPECTRA; TRAVELLING WAVES; TURBULENCE

Citation Formats

Cho, Jungyeon, and Lazarian, A., E-mail: jcho@cnu.ac.kr. Imbalanced relativistic force-free magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/780/1/30.
Cho, Jungyeon, & Lazarian, A., E-mail: jcho@cnu.ac.kr. Imbalanced relativistic force-free magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/780/1/30
Cho, Jungyeon, and Lazarian, A., E-mail: jcho@cnu.ac.kr. 2014. "Imbalanced relativistic force-free magnetohydrodynamic turbulence". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/780/1/30.
@article{osti_22348365,
title = {Imbalanced relativistic force-free magnetohydrodynamic turbulence},
author = {Cho, Jungyeon and Lazarian, A., E-mail: jcho@cnu.ac.kr},
abstractNote = {When magnetic energy density is much larger than that of matter, as in pulsar/black hole magnetospheres, the medium becomes force-free and we need relativity to describe it. As in non-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Alfvénic MHD turbulence in the relativistic limit can be described by interactions of counter-traveling wave packets. In this paper, we numerically study strong imbalanced MHD turbulence in such environments. Here, imbalanced turbulence means the waves traveling in one direction (dominant waves) have higher amplitudes than the opposite-traveling waves (sub-dominant waves). We find that (1) spectrum of the dominant waves is steeper than that of sub-dominant waves, (2) the anisotropy of the dominant waves is weaker than that of sub-dominant waves, and (3) the dependence of the ratio of magnetic energy densities of dominant and sub-dominant waves on the ratio of energy injection rates is steeper than quadratic (i.e., b{sub +}{sup 2}/b{sub −}{sup 2}∝(ϵ{sub +}/ϵ{sub −}){sup n} with n > 2). These results are consistent with those obtained for imbalanced non-relativistic Alfvénic turbulence. This corresponds well to the earlier reported similarity of the relativistic and non-relativistic balanced magnetic turbulence.},
doi = {10.1088/0004-637X/780/1/30},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22348365}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 780,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}