Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/60871
Type: Artigo de Periódico
Title: Diffusion of large-scale magnetic fields by reconnection in MHD turbulence
Authors: Reinaldo Santos de Lima
Gustavo Andres Guerrero Eraso
Elisabete Maria de Gouveia Dal Pino
Alex Lazarian
Abstract: The rate of magnetic field diffusion plays an essential role in several astrophysical plasma processes. It has been demonstrated that the omnipresent turbulence in astrophysical media induces fast magnetic reconnection, which consequently leads to large-scale magnetic flux diffusion at a rate independent of the plasma microphysics. This process is called 'reconnection diffusion' (RD) and allows for the diffusion of fields, which are dynamically important. The current theory describing RD is based on incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. In this work, we have tested quantitatively the predictions of the RD theory when magnetic forces are dominant in the turbulence dynamics (Alfvénic Mach number MA < 1). We employed the Pencil Code to perform numerical simulations of forced MHD turbulence, extracting the values of the diffusion coefficient ηRD using the test-field method. Our results are consistent with the RD theory (⁠ηRD∼M3A for MA < 1) when turbulence approaches the incompressible limit (sonic Mach number MS ≲ 0.02), while for larger MS the diffusion is faster (⁠ηRD∼M2A⁠). This work shows for the first time simulations of compressible MHD turbulence with the suppression of the cascade in the direction parallel to the mean magnetic field, which is consistent with incompressible weak turbulence theory. We also verified that in our simulations the energy cascading time does not follow the scaling with MA predicted for the weak regime, in contradiction with the RD theory assumption. Our results generally support and expand the RD theory predictions.
Subject: Campos magnéticos
Estrelas
Difusão
language: eng
metadata.dc.publisher.country: Brasil
Publisher: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Publisher Initials: UFMG
metadata.dc.publisher.department: ICX - DEPARTAMENTO DE FÍSICA
Rights: Acesso Aberto
metadata.dc.identifier.doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab470
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/60871
Issue Date: 2021
metadata.dc.url.externa: https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/503/1/1290/6144594
metadata.dc.relation.ispartof: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Appears in Collections:Artigo de Periódico

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