Die Wechselwirkung zwischen homogener Turbulenz und inhomogenem magnetischen Feld in der Umgebung neutraler Flächen

Continuing an investigation concerning the influence of a uniform mean magnetic field on turbulence (RÜDIGER, 1974) we now consider a weak magnetic field changing spatially weakly and containing a neutral sheet. An originally homogeneous and isotropic turbulent field becomes inhomogeneous and anisotropic if such a magnetic field is present. Because of the finite correlation length the turbulent field is also affected in a neutral sheet. For a special class of spectral functions of two- und three-dimensional turbulence the anisotropic damping of the motions is given in the vicinity of the neutral sheet. Furthermore, we point out the consequence for the mean magnetic field which is affected by such an inhomogeneous turbulent field. Using BOCHNER'S theorem concerning the spectral tensor of the originally homogeneous turbulence we obtain an additional decay of thr mean magnetic field.     

On the turbulent decay of strong magnetic fields and the development of sunspot areas

This paper deals with the conception that two-dimensional turbulence is present in a sunspot where the magnetic field is strong. This conception is based upon the incapacity of even a strong magnetic field to influence an arbitrary two-dimensional turbulence, if the magnetic field is parallel to a constant direction and the motion occurs in planes orthogonal to it. It is, moreover, shown that such a two-dimensional turbulence provides for a turbulent decay of the magnetic field. The decay rate possesses nearly the same dependence on the scales as for three-dimensional turbulence. Finally, the turbulent decay is studied by investigating a simple model and comparing the results with those deduced by Bumba from the observed decay of sunspot groups areas. By means of our conception even a good quantitative agreement is stated.     

Do mean‐field dynamos in nonrotating turbulent shear‐flows exist?

A plane‐shear flow in a fluid with forced turbulence is considered. If the fluid is electrically‐conducting then a mean electromotive force (EMF) results even without basic rotation and the magnetic diffusivity becomes a highly anisotropic tensor. It is checked whether in this case self‐excitation of a large‐scale magnetic field is possible (so‐called W̄ × J̄ ‐dynamo) and the answer is NO. The calculations reveal the cross‐stream components of the EMF perpendicular to the mean current having the wrong signs, at least for small magnetic Prandtl numbers. After our results numerical simulations with magnetic Prandtl number of about unity have only a restricted meaning as the Prandtl number dependence of the diffusivity tensor is rather strong. If, on the other hand, the turbulence field is strati.ed in the vertical direction then a dynamo‐active α ‐effect is produced. The critical magnetic Reynolds number for such a self‐excitation in a simple shear flow is slightly above 10 like for the other – but much more complicated – flow patterns used in existing dynamo experiments with liquid sodium or gallium. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Statistical theory of the decay-process of weak homogeneous hydromagnetic turbulence

A statistical model for the spectral analysis of one dimensional hydromagnetic turbulence is presented for the purpose of gaining insight into the nonlinear relaxation in the decay-process. The random fluctuations of velocity and magnetic fields have been considered on the basis of wavenumbers in Fourier-space together with linearized mode approximation. Finally, with the aid of Bogoliubov expansion method, the dynamical equations for the decay of kinetic and magnetic energy have been derived for weak homogeneous hydromagnetic turbulence.     

Radial mixing in the outer Milky Way disc caused by an orbiting satellite

The turbulent diffusion tensor describing the evolution of the mean concentration of a passive scalar is investigated for non-helically forced turbulence in the presence of rotation or a magnetic field. With rotation, the Coriolis force causes a sideways deflection of the flux of mean concentration. Within the magnetohydrodynamics approximation there is no analogous effect from the magnetic field because the effects on the flow do not depend on the sign of the field. Both rotation and magnetic fields tend to suppress turbulent transport, but this suppression is weaker in the direction along the magnetic field. Turbulent transport along the rotation axis is not strongly affected by rotation, except on shorter length-scales, i.e. when the scale of the variation of the mean field becomes comparable with the scale of the energy-carrying eddies. These results are discussed in the context of anisotropic convective energy transport in the Sun.     

Mean electromotive force proportional to mean flow in MILD turbulence

In mean‐field magnetohydrodynamics the mean electromotive force due to velocity and magnetic‐field fluctuations plays a crucial role. In general it consists of two parts, one independent of and another one proportional to the mean magnetic field. The first part may be nonzero only in the presence of mhd turbulence, maintained, e.g., by small‐scale dynamo action. It corresponds to a battery, which lets a mean magnetic field grow from zero to a finite value. The second part, which covers, e.g., the α effect, is important for large‐scale dynamos. Only a few examples of the aforementioned first part of the mean electromotive force have been discussed so far. It is shown that a mean electromotive force proportional to the mean fluid velocity, but independent of the mean magnetic field, may occur in an originally homogeneous isotropic mhd turbulence if there are nonzero correlations of velocity and electric current fluctuations or, what is equivalent, of vorticity and magnetic field fluctuations. This goes beyond the Yoshizawa effect, which consists in the occurrence of mean electromotive forces proportional to the mean vorticity or to the angular velocity defining the Coriolis force in a rotating frame and depends on the cross‐helicity defined by the velocity and magnetic field fluctuations. Contributions to the mean electromotive force due to inhomogeneity of the turbulence are also considered. Possible consequences of the above findings for the generation of magnetic fields in cosmic bodies are discussed (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Turbulent dynamo action in a shear flow

We consider the mean electromotive force and a dynamo-generated magnetic field, taking into account the stretching of turbulent magnetic field lines by a shear flow. Calculations are performed by making use of the second-order correlation approximation. In the presence of shear, the mirror symmetry of turbulence can be broken; thus turbulent motions become suitable for the generation of a large-scale magnetic field. Regardless of the shear law, turbulence can lead to a rapid amplification of the mean magnetic field. The growth rate of the mean magnetic field depends on the length-scale: it is faster for the fields with smaller length-scale. The mechanism considered is qualitatively different from the alpha dynamo, and can generate only a magnetic field that is inhomogeneous in the direction of flow. In contrast to the alpha dynamo, this mechanism also allows the generation of two-dimensional fields. The suggested mechanism may play an important role in the generation of magnetic fields in accretion discs, galaxies and jets.     

From Small-Scale Dynamo to Isotropic MHD Turbulence

We consider the problem of incompressible, forced, nonhelical, homogeneous, isotropic MHD turbulence with no mean magnetic field. This problem is essentially different from the case with externally imposed uniform mean field. There is no scale-by-scale equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energies as would be the case for the Alfvén-wave turbulence. The isotropic MHD turbulence is the end state of the turbulent dynamo which generates folded fields with small-scale direction reversals. We propose that the statistics seen in numerical simulations of isotropic MHD turbulence could be explained as a superposition of these folded fields and Alfvén-like waves that propagate along the folds.     

Properties of the negative effective magnetic pressure instability

As was demonstrated in earlier studies, turbulence can result in a negative contribution to the effective mean magnetic pressure, which, in turn, can cause a large‐scale instability. In this study, hydromagnetic mean‐field modelling is performed for an isothermally stratified layer in the presence of a horizontal magnetic field. The negative effective magnetic pressure instability (NEMPI) is comprehensively investigated. It is shown that, if the effect of turbulence on the mean magnetic tension force vanishes, which is consistent with results from direct numerical simulations of forced turbulence, the fastest growing eigenmodes of NEMPI are two‐dimensional. The growth rate is found to depend on a parameter β_* characterizing the turbulent contribution of the effective mean magnetic pressure for moderately strong mean magnetic fields. A fit formula is proposed that gives the growth rate as a function of turbulent kinematic viscosity, turbulent magnetic diffusivity, the density scale height, and the parameter β_*. The strength of the imposed magnetic field does not explicitly enter provided the location of the vertical boundaries are chosen such that the maximum of the eigenmode of NEMPI fits into the domain. The formation of sunspots and solar active regions is discussed as possible applications of NEMPI (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Dynamics of charged particles and perpendicular diffusion in turbulent magnetic field

A test particle code is employed to explore the dynamics of charged particles and perpendicular diffusion in turbulent magnetic field, where a three-dimensional (3D) isotropic turbulence model is used in this paper. The obtained perpendicular diffusion at different particle energies is compared with that of the nonlinear guiding center (NLGC) theory. It is found that the NLGC theory is consistent with test particle simulations when the particle energies are small. However, the difference between the NLGC theory and test particle simulations tends to increase when the particle energy is sufficiently large, and the threshold is related to the turbulence bend-over length. In the NLGC theory, the gyrocenter of a charged particle is assumed to follow the magnetic field line. Therefore, when the particle has sufficiently large energy, its gyroradius will be larger than the turbulence bend-over length. Then the particle can cross the magnetic field lines, and the difference between the test particle simulations and NLGC theory occurs.     

Turbulence Heating for Protons in High-Speed Solar Wind

In high-speed solar wind, propagating Alfvén waves can be transferred into fast magnetosonic waves. When both the magnetic field strength and Alfvén wave velocity approach zero, fast magnetosonic waves will be transferred into ion-acoustic waves. As the phase velocity of ion-acoustic waves is slightly greater than the thermal velocity of protons, the turbulence energy of ion-acoustic waves can largely be absorbed by protons and can cause the mean temperature of protons to be greater than that of electrons by stochastic turbulence heating of ion-acoustic waves for protons.     

Diffusion and dispersion in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence: The influence of mean magnetic fields

The properties of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence under the influence of a strong mean magnetic field are investigated from the Lagrangian viewpoint by tracking fluid particles in direct numerical simulations. The particle trajectories show characteristic bends near vortex sheets. A strong mean magnetic field leads to preferential diffusion parallel to the mean magnetic field. The two‐particle relative dispersion process shows a dependence on the orientation of the initial separation vector. The relative dispersion is slowed down for initial separation vectors aligned with the mean magnetic field. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The generation and dissipation of solar and galactic magnetic fields

Turbulent diffusion of magnetic field plays an essential role in the generation of magnetic field in most astrophysical bodies. This paper reviews what can be proved, and what can be believed, about the turbulent diffusion of magnetic field. Observations indicate the dissipation of magnetic field at rates that can be understood only in terms of turbulent diffusion. Theory shows that a largescale weak magnetic field diffuses in a turbulent flow in the same way that smoke is mixed throughout the fluid by the turbulence. The small-scale fields (produced from the large-scale field by the turbulence) are limited in their growth by reconnection of field lines at neutral points, so that the turbulent mixing of field and fluid is not halted by them.Altogether, it appears that the mixing of field and fluid in the observed turbulent motions in the Sun and in the Galaxy is unavoidable. Turbulent diffusion causes decay of the general solar fields in a decade or so, and of the galactic field in 10⁸–10⁹ yr. We conclude that continual dynamo action is implied by the observed existence of the fields.This work was supported in part by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Grant NGL 14-001-001.     

Analytic forms of the perpendicular cosmic ray diffusion coefficient for an arbitrary turbulence spectrum and applications on transport of Galactic protons and acceleration at interplanetary shocks

We investigate cosmic ray scattering in the direction perpendicular to a mean magnetic field. Unlike in previous articles we employ a general form of the turbulence wave spectrum with arbitrary behavior in the energy range. By employing an improved version of the nonlinear guiding center theory we compute analytically the perpendicular mean free path. As shown, the energy range spectral index, has a strong influence on the perpendicular diffusion coefficient. If this parameter is larger than one we find for some cases a perpendicular diffusion coefficient that is independent of the parallel mean free path and particle energy. Two applications are considered, namely transport of Galactic protons in the solar system and diffusive particle acceleration at highly perpendicular interplanetary shock waves.     

Large‐scale magnetic flux concentrations from turbulent stresses

In this study we provide the first numerical demonstration of the effects of turbulence on the mean Lorentz force and the resulting formation of large‐scale magnetic structures. Using three‐dimensional direct numerical simulations (DNS) of forced turbulence we show that an imposed mean magnetic field leads to a decrease of the turbulent hydromagnetic pressure and tension. This phenomenon is quantified by determining the relevant functions that relate the sum of the turbulent Reynolds and Maxwell stresses with the Maxwell stress of the mean magnetic field. Using such a parameterization, we show by means of two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional mean‐field numerical modelling that an isentropic density stratified layer becomes unstable in the presence of a uniform imposed magnetic field. This large‐scale instability results in the formation of loop‐like magnetic structures which are concentrated at the top of the stratified layer. In three dimensions these structures resemble the appearance of bipolar magnetic regions in the Sun. The results of DNS and mean‐field numerical modelling are in good agreement with theoretical predictions. We discuss our model in the context of a distributed solar dynamo where active regions and sunspots might be rather shallow phenomena (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Axisymmetry vs. nonaxisymmetry of a Taylor‐Couette flow with azimuthal magnetic fields

The instability of a supercritical Taylor‐Couette flow of a conducting fluid with resting outer cylinder under the influence of a uniform axial electric current is investigated for magnetic Prandtl number Pm = 1. In the linear theory the critical Reynolds number for axisymmetric perturbations is not influenced by the current‐induced axisymmetric magnetic field but all axisymmetric magnetic perturbations decay. The nonaxisymmetric perturbations with m = 1 are excited even without rotation for large enough Hartmann numbers (“Tayler instability”). For slow rotation their growth rates scale with the Alfvén frequency of the magnetic field but for fast rotation they scale with the rotation rate of the inner cylinder. In the nonlinear regime the ratio of the energy of the magnetic m = 1 modes and the toroidal background field is very low for the non‐rotating Tayler instability but it strongly grows if differential rotation is present. For super‐Alfv´enic rotation the energies in the m = 1 modes of flow and field do not depend on the molecular viscosity, they are almost in equipartition and contain only 1.5 % of the centrifugal energy of the inner cylinder. The geometry of the excited magnetic field pattern is strictly nonaxisymmetric for slow rotation but it is of the mixed‐mode type for fast rotation – contrary to the situation which has been observed at the surface of Ap stars. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Cosmic ray scattering in compressible turbulence

We study the scattering of low-energy cosmic rays (CRs) in a turbulent, compressive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) fluid. We show that compressible MHD modes – fast or slow waves with wavelengths smaller than CR mean free paths induce cyclotron instability in CRs. The instability feeds the new small-scale Alfvénic wave component with wavevectors mostly along magnetic field, which is not a part of the MHD turbulence cascade. This new component gives feedback on the instability through decreasing the CR mean free path. We show that the ambient turbulence fully suppresses the instability at large scales, while wave steepening constrains the amplitude of the waves at small scales. We provide the energy spectrum of the plane-parallel Alfvénic component and calculate mean free paths of CRs as a function of their energy. We find that for the typical parameters of turbulence in the interstellar medium and in the intercluster medium the new Alfvénic component provides the scattering of the low-energy CRs that exceeds the direct resonance scattering by MHD modes. This solves the problem of insufficient scattering of low-energy CRs in the turbulent interstellar or intracluster medium that was reported in the literature.     

The role of the Yoshizawa effect in the Archontis dynamo

The generation of mean magnetic fields is studied for a simple non-helical flow where a net cross-helicity of either sign can emerge. This flow, which is also known as the Archontis flow, is a generalization of the Arnold–Beltrami–Childress flow, but with the cosine terms omitted. The presence of cross-helicity leads to a mean-field dynamo effect that is known as the Yoshizawa effect. Direct numerical simulations of such flows demonstrate the presence of magnetic fields on scales larger than the scale of the flow. Contrary to earlier expectations, the Yoshizawa effect is found to be proportional to the mean magnetic field and can therefore lead to its exponential instead of just linear amplification for magnetic Reynolds numbers that exceed a certain critical value. Unlike α effect dynamos, it is found that the Yoshizawa effect is not notably constrained by the presence of a conservation law. It is argued that this is due to the presence of a forcing term in the momentum equation, which leads to a non-zero correlation with the magnetic field. Finally, the application to energy convergence in solar wind turbulence is discussed.     

On the α-effect for slow and fast rotation

This paper deals with the influence of global rotation on a special inomogeneous field of incompressible turbulence. All its deviations from homogeneity and isotropy may be described only by a constant gradient of turbulence intensity. Using a FOURIER representation we are able to determine the α-effect for any given rotational rates and material constants. In the case of slow rotation our expressions show a strong similarity with those of other authors. Increasing angular velocities do not – as is to be assumed at first sight – suppress the production of mean electromotive force caused by turbulence. They rather lead to a two-dimensionality of this e.m.f. with respect to the axis of rotation. It seems, therefore, that very fast rotation can not completely delete the dynamo instability.     

Large-scale zonal flow and magnetic field generation due to drift-Alfven turbulence in ionosphere plasma

In the present work, the generation of large-scale zonal flows and magnetic field by short-scale collision-less electron skin depth order drift-Alfven turbulence in the ionosphere is investigated. The self-consistent system of two model nonlinear equations, describing the dynamics of wave structures with characteristic scales till to the skin value, is obtained. Evolution equations for the shear flows and the magnetic field is obtained by means of the averaging of model equations for the fast-high-frequency and small-scale fluctuations. It is shown that the large-scale disturbances of plasma motion and magnetic field are spontaneously generated by small-scale drift-Alfven wave turbulence through the nonlinear action of the stresses of Reynolds and Maxwell. Positive feedback in the system is achieved via modulation of the skin size drift-Alfven waves by the large-scale zonal flow and/or by the excited large-scale magnetic field. As a result, the propagation of small-scale wave packets in the ionospheric medium is accompanied by low-frequency, long-wave disturbances generated by parametric instability. Two regimes of this instability, resonance kinetic and hydrodynamic ones, are studied. The increments of the corresponding instabilities are also found. The conditions for the instability development and possibility of the generation of large-scale structures are determined. The nonlinear increment of this interaction substantially depends on the wave vector of Alfven pumping and on the characteristic scale of the generated zonal structures. This means that the instability pumps the energy of primarily small-scale Alfven waves into that of the large-scale zonal structures which is typical for an inverse turbulent cascade. The increment of energy pumping into the large-scale region noticeably depends also on the width of the pumping wave spectrum and with an increase of the width of the initial wave spectrum the instability can be suppressed. It is assumed that the investigated mechanism can refer directly to the generation of mean flow in the atmosphere of the rotating planets and the magnetized plasma.