Generation of Near-Equipartition Magnetic Fields in Turbulent Collisionless Plasmas

Sironi, Lorenzo; Comisso, Luca; Golant, Ryan

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.131.055201

Generation of Near-Equipartition Magnetic Fields in Turbulent Collisionless Plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Jul 31 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.131.055201· OSTI ID:2421849

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Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); OSTI
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

The mechanisms that generate “seed” magnetic fields in our Universe and that amplify them throughout cosmic time remain poorly understood. By means of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of turbulent, initially unmagnetized plasmas, here we study the genesis of magnetic fields via the Weibel instability and follow their dynamo growth up to near-equipartition levels. In the kinematic stage of the dynamo, we find that the rms magnetic field strength grows exponentially with rate γ_B≃0.4⁢u_rms/L, where L/2⁢π is the driving scale and u_rms is the rms turbulent velocity. In the saturated stage, the magnetic field energy reaches about half of the turbulent kinetic energy. Here, magnetic field growth is balanced by dissipation via reconnection, as revealed by the appearance of plasmoid chains. At saturation, the integral-scale wave number of the magnetic spectrum approaches k_int≃12⁢π/L. Our results show that turbulence—induced by, e.g., the gravitational buildup of galaxies and galaxy clusters—can magnetize collisionless plasmas with large-scale near-equipartition fields.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Columbia University, New York, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0021254

OSTI ID:: 2421849

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2472499
OSTI ID: 1993112

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 131; ISSN 0031-9007

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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