skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Two-fluid turbulence including electron inertia

Abstract

We present a full two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) description for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure, and electron inertia. According to this description, each plasma species introduces a new spatial scale: the ion inertial length λ{sub i} and the electron inertial length λ{sub e}, which are not present in the traditional MHD description. In the present paper, we seek for possible changes in the energy power spectrum in fully developed turbulent regimes, using numerical simulations of the two-fluid equations in two-and-a-half dimensions. We have been able to reproduce different scaling laws in different spectral ranges, as it has been observed in the solar wind for the magnetic energy spectrum. At the smallest wavenumbers where plain MHD is valid, we obtain an inertial range following a Kolmogorov k{sup −5∕3} law. For intermediate wavenumbers such that λ{sub i}{sup −1}≪k≪λ{sub e}{sup −1}, the spectrum is modified to a k{sup −7∕3} power-law, as has also been obtained for Hall-MHD neglecting electron inertia terms. When electron inertia is retained, a new spectral region given by k>λ{sub e}{sup −1} arises. The power spectrum for magnetic energy in this region is given by a k{sup −11∕3} power law. Finally, whenmore » the terms of electron inertia are retained, we study the self-consistent electric field. Our results are discussed and compared with those obtained in the solar wind observations and previous simulations.« less

Authors:
;  [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio, CC. 67, suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)
  2. Departamento de Fisica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires and IFIBA, CONICET, 1428 Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22403340
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 21; Journal Issue: 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION; ELECTRONS; FLUIDS; HYDROGEN; LENGTH; MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS; MOMENT OF INERTIA; SCALING LAWS; SOLAR WIND; TURBULENCE

Citation Formats

Andrés, Nahuel, Gómez, Daniel, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, 1428 Buenos Aires, Gonzalez, Carlos, Martin, Luis, and Dmitruk, Pablo. Two-fluid turbulence including electron inertia. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1063/1.4903907.
Andrés, Nahuel, Gómez, Daniel, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, 1428 Buenos Aires, Gonzalez, Carlos, Martin, Luis, & Dmitruk, Pablo. Two-fluid turbulence including electron inertia. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4903907
Andrés, Nahuel, Gómez, Daniel, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, 1428 Buenos Aires, Gonzalez, Carlos, Martin, Luis, and Dmitruk, Pablo. 2014. "Two-fluid turbulence including electron inertia". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4903907.
@article{osti_22403340,
title = {Two-fluid turbulence including electron inertia},
author = {Andrés, Nahuel and Gómez, Daniel and Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón I, 1428 Buenos Aires and Gonzalez, Carlos and Martin, Luis and Dmitruk, Pablo},
abstractNote = {We present a full two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) description for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure, and electron inertia. According to this description, each plasma species introduces a new spatial scale: the ion inertial length λ{sub i} and the electron inertial length λ{sub e}, which are not present in the traditional MHD description. In the present paper, we seek for possible changes in the energy power spectrum in fully developed turbulent regimes, using numerical simulations of the two-fluid equations in two-and-a-half dimensions. We have been able to reproduce different scaling laws in different spectral ranges, as it has been observed in the solar wind for the magnetic energy spectrum. At the smallest wavenumbers where plain MHD is valid, we obtain an inertial range following a Kolmogorov k{sup −5∕3} law. For intermediate wavenumbers such that λ{sub i}{sup −1}≪k≪λ{sub e}{sup −1}, the spectrum is modified to a k{sup −7∕3} power-law, as has also been obtained for Hall-MHD neglecting electron inertia terms. When electron inertia is retained, a new spectral region given by k>λ{sub e}{sup −1} arises. The power spectrum for magnetic energy in this region is given by a k{sup −11∕3} power law. Finally, when the terms of electron inertia are retained, we study the self-consistent electric field. Our results are discussed and compared with those obtained in the solar wind observations and previous simulations.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4903907},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22403340}, journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
issn = {1070-664X},
number = 12,
volume = 21,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}