Collaborative Research: Unveiling the Interplay Between Magnetic Reconnection and Turbulence — Theory and Modeling

Technical Report · Mon Jan 13 04:00:00 EST 2025

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2499538· OSTI ID:2499538

Huang, Yi-Min ^[1]

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1. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences; University of Maryland

This is the final technical report for the project "Collaborative Research: Unveiling the Interplay Between Magnetic Reconnection and Turbulence — Theory and Modeling." This project investigated the interplay between two fundamental plasma processes — turbulence and magnetic reconnection — and the associated heating and particle acceleration. In particular, we focused on a new regime where the plasmoid instability mediates the turbulent energy cascade. In this new regime, reconnecting current sheets are disrupted by the growth of plasmoids/flux ropes on time scales shorter than the typical turnover times of eddies, speeding up the energy cascade and steepening the turbulence energy spectrum. This project addressed the following outstanding open questions: (1) What are the fundamental differences between plasmoid‐mediated turbulence cascade in three dimensions (3D) and two dimensions (2D)? (2) What are the essential features of plasmoid‐mediated turbulence in weakly collisional or collisionless regimes beyond resistive MHD? (3) How does the interplay of turbulence and reconnection regulate the energy release and dissipation in space and astrophysical plasmas? To address these questions, we have carried out three investigations: (1) Three-dimensional plasmoid-mediated turbulence energy cascade; (2) plasmoid-mediated reconnection and turbulence in three-dimensional Hall MHD; (3) reconnection and heating in coronal loops. This technical report summarizes the key findings of these investigations.

• Research Organization: Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0021205
• OSTI ID: 2499538
• Report Number(s): DOE-PRINCETON--SC0021205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY