Evolution and decay of acceleration waves in perfectly conducting inviscid radiative magnetogasdynamics

The paper examines the evolutionary behaviour of acceleration waves in a perfectly conducting inviscid radiating gas permeated by a transverse magnetic field. Solution of the problem in the characteristic plane has been determined. It is shown that a linear solution in the characteristic plane exhibits nonlinear behaviour in the physical plane. Transport equation governing the behaviour of acceleration waves has been derived. The effect of radiative heat transfer under the influence of magnetic field on the formation of shock wave with generalized geometry is analyzed. The critical amplitude of the initial disturbance has been obtained such that the initial amplitude of any compressive wave greater than the critical one always terminates into shock wave. Critical time, when the compressive wave will grow into a shock wave, has been determined. Also, it is assessed as to how the radiative heat transfer in the presence of magnetic field affects the shock formation.     

Gnetic wave instability in a plasma ith relativistic particles in a random magnetic field

A new mechanism, which accounts for the direct excitation of electromagnetic waves by relativistic particles moving in random magnetic fields, is considered. We are then able to study maser-type wave excitations by slightly anisotropic particle distribution functions as well as electromagnetic wave emissions in beam-plasma interactions     

A statistical theory of electromagnetic waves in turbulent plasmas

A statistical theory, previously developed for electrostatic waves is extended to the case of electromagnetic waves in the presence of a constant magnetic field. The theory is nonlinear and contains the effects of mode-mode coupling. The extension is not straightforward as assumed previously by many authors and involves calculation of perturbed trajectories in both velocity and configuration space. A diffusion equation is derived for the average particle distribution function, the associated diffusion tensor is calculated and a nonlinear wave dispersion relation is found. All these results contain the usual quasilinear theory as the lowest order approximation.     

Polar observations of plasma waves in and near the dayside magnetopause/magnetosheath

The plasma wave instrument (PWI) on board the Polar spacecraft made numerous passages of the dayside magnetopause and several probable encounters with the magnetosheath during the years 1996 and 1997. During periods of relatively high density, the PWI antenna-receiver system is coupled to the plasma and oscillates. The oscillations have been shown (cf. Radio Sci. 36 (2001) 203) to be indicative of periods of higher plasma density and plasma flows, possibly associated with magnetic reconnection. We have studied the plasma waves observed on three distinct magnetopause passes distinguished by the presence of these oscillations of the PWI receivers, and we report on the data obtained near, but not during, the times of the oscillations and the possible role of these waves in magnetic reconnection. Sweep-frequency receiver and high-resolution waveform data for some of these times are presented. The plasma wave measurements on each of the passes are characterized by turbulence. The most stable waves are whistler mode emissions typically of several hundred hertz that are seen intermittently in these regions. The data indicate the presence of impulsive solitary-like wave structures with strong electric fields both parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field near, but not always within, suspected reconnection sites. The solitary waves show the highest occurrence when observed with electrostatic electron cyclotron waves. These latter waves have been observed in the past in the cusp, polar magnetosphere, and auroral regions and therefore may represent excursions into the cusp, but also indicate the presence of low-energy electron beams. Turbulence near the lower hybrid frequency, low-frequency EM waves, and impulsive monopolar electrostatic pulses are seen throughout the magnetopause and particularly near regions of large decrease in the local magnetic field and enhanced field-aligned flows, the suspected reconnection sites. The absence of significant solitary wave signatures within suspected reconnection sites may require modifications to some reconnection models.     

Nonlinear standing waves on the surface of a self-gravitating cylinder

The weakly nonlinear standing waves on the surface of a self-gravitating incompressible fluid column are investigated in the presence of, a uniform axial-magnetic field. By use of the method of multiple scales, we have shown that near the critical wave number, the amplitude modulation of a standing wave can be described by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with the roles of time and space variable interchanged. It is demonstrated that in presence of a magnetic field, the system is always stable near the critical wave number.Department of Chemical Engineering, and TechnologyDepartment of Mathematics     

Nonlinear Coupling of Langmuir Waves with Whistler Waves in the Solar Wind

Close temporal correlation between high-frequency Langmuir waves and low-frequency electromagnetic whistler waves has been observed recently within magnetic holes of the solar wind. In order to account for these observations, a theory is formulated to describe the nonlinear coupling of Langmuir waves and whistler waves. It is shown that a Langmuir wave can interact nonlinearly with a whistler wave to produce either right-hand or left-hand circularly polarized electromagnetic waves. Nonlinear coupling of Langmuir waves and whistler waves may lead to the formation of modulated Langmuir wave packets as well as the generation of circularly polarized radio waves at the plasma frequency in the solar wind. Numerical examples of whistler frequency, nonlinear growth rate and modulation frequency for solar wind parameters are calculated.     

Wave propagation in a magnetically structured atmosphere

The solar atmosphere, from the photosphere to the corona, is structured by the presence of magnetic fields. We consider the nature of such inhomogeneity and emphasis that the usual picture of hydromagnetic wave propagation in a uniform medium may be misleading if applied to a structured field. We investigate the occurrence of magnetoacoustic surface waves at a single magnetic interface and consider in detail the case where one side of the interface is field-free. For such an interface, a slow surface wave can always propagate. In addition, a fast surface wave may propagate if the field-free medium is warmer than the magnetic atmosphere.     

Nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in hydromagnetics

By taking into account the temporal as well as the spatial effects, a weakly nonlinear theory of the propagation of wave packets in the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability problem in the presence of uniform magnetic fields, acting along the surface of separation of two moving superposed fluids, is presented. With the use of the method of multiple scaling, the evolution of the amplitude of the two-dimensional wave packets, which is governed by a nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation, is derived. The various stability criteria arising out of this equation are examined. The nonlinear cut-off wavenumber, which separates the region of stability from that of instability, is determined.     

On the properties of magnetoacoustic surface waves

The nature of magnetoacoustic surface waves at a single magnetic interface, one side of which is field-free, is explored for the case of parallel propagation. The interface may support a slow surface wave or both slow and fast surface waves, depending upon the ordering of the sound speeds in the two media. Phase-speeds and penetration depths of the waves and the associated pressure perturbations and motions are investigated for a variety of field strengths and sound speeds. The fast wave disturbs the interface more than the slow wave. In the magnetic field region the slow wave is mainly longitudinal in nature whilst the fast surface wave is transverse for strong fields, longitudinal for weaker fields. In the field-free region both waves are longitudinal in character. The running penumbral wave phenomenon may provide an example of a magnetoacoustic surface mode, though any direct comparison requires the inclusion of gravitational effects.     

Imaging bright-spots in the accretion flow near the black hole horizon of Sgr A*

Solar active regions are distinguished by their strong magnetic fields. Modern local helioseismology seeks to probe them by observing waves which emerge at the solar surface having passed through their interiors. We address the question of how an acoustic wave from below is partially converted to magnetic waves as it passes through a vertical magnetic field layer where the sound and Alfvén speeds coincide (the equipartition level), and find that (i) there is no associated reflection at this depth, either acoustic or magnetic, only transmission and conversion to an ongoing magnetic wave; and (ii) conversion in active regions is likely to be strong, though not total, at frequencies typically used in local helioseismology, with lower frequencies less strongly converted. A simple analytical formula is presented for the acoustic-to-magnetic conversion coefficient.     

Resonant Absorption of Nonlinear Slow MHD Waves in Isotropic Steady Plasmas – II. Application: Resonant Acoustic Waves

Nonlinear theory of driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in the slow dissipative layer in isotropic steady plasmas developed by Ballai and Erdélyi (Solar Phys. 180 (1998)) is used to study the nonlinear interaction of sound waves with one-dimensional isotropic steady plasmas. An inhomogeneous magnetic slab with field-aligned plasma flow is sandwiched by a homogeneous static magnetic-free plasma and by a homogeneous steady magnetic plasma. Sound waves launched from the magnetic-free plasma propagate into the inhomogeneous region interacting with the localised slow dissipative layer and are partially reflected, dissipated or transmitted by this region. The nonlinearity parameter, introduced by Ballai and Erdélyi, is assumed to be small and a regular perturbation method is used to obtain analytical wave solutions. Analytical studies of resonant absorption of sound waves show that the efficiency of the process of resonant absorption strongly depends on both the equilibrium parameters and the characteristics of the resonant wave. We also find that a steady equilibrium shear flow can significantly influence the nonlinear resonant absorption in the limits of thin inhomogeneous layer and weak nonlinearity. The presence of an equilibrium flow may therefore be important for the nonlinear resonant MHD wave phenomena. A parametric analysis also shows that the nonlinear part of resonant absorption can be strongly enhanced by the equilibrium flow.     

Nonlinear Viscous Damping of Surface AlfvÉn Waves in Polar Coronal Holes

We quantitatively re-examine the nonlinear viscous damping of surface Alfvén waves in polar coronal holes, using recently reported observational data on electron density and temperature and the magnetic field spreading near the edges. It is found that in the nonlinear regime the viscous damping of surface Alfvén waves becomes a viable mechanism of solar coronal plasma heating when strong spreading of magnetic field is taken into account. Our estimations confirm that coronal heating is more pronounced in the nonlinear case than in the linear one in presence of magnetic field spreading.     

Long nonlinear waves in a compressible magnetically structured atmosphere

The Hohlov-Zabolotskaja equation with an additional boundary condition is shown to describe long nonlinear small-amplitude fast sausage surface waves in a magnetic slab embedded in magnetic environment. It is proved that the obtained boundary problem has no solutions in the form of solitary waves. Approximate solution in the form of nonlinear stationary wave is found with the use of expansion in the power series of small amplitude. Second harmonic generation by a sinusoidal wave is studied. The law of energy conservation is obtained. Results of numerical computations are presented. They show that a sinusoidal disturbance does not overturn. The possibility of transmission of wave energy into corona along a magnetic slab is discussed in connection with these results.     

Kinetic equilibrium of nonlinear electromagnetic waves in electron-positron-ion magnetoplasmas

The problem of a one-dimensional, nonlinear, circularly polarized wave in a collisionless plasma is solved for the case in which the group velocity of the localized wave is zero relative to the plasma frame.For an electron-positron plasma the ponderomotive potential is repulsive, and both small and large amplitude waves in the presence of reflected and transmitted particles is discussed.The inclusion of an external magnetic field such that the cyclotron frequency is smaller than the wave frequency does not alter qualitatively the results of the fieldless case, except for the fact that an electrostatic potential is generated.For the case in which the cyclotron frequency is larger than the wave frequency, the resulting potential is attractive, and it is shown that no localized waves can coexist with confined and transmitted particles. If, however, an ionic component is presnt in the electron-positron plasma, such as may be the case in pulsar magnetospheres, localized waves may again be possible.     

Evolution of ion-acoustic solitary waves in magnetized plasma contaminated with varying dust charged grains

Propagation of plasma-acoustic wave has been studied in magnetized plasma contaminated with dust charged grains. It has shown that, because of the configuration of magnetized plasma contaminated with dust charge fluctuation, pseudopotential method fails to derive nonlinear wave equation. We thus exercise an alternate approach to yield wave equation in the form of Sagdeev-like potential equation which enables the success to study the nonlinear waves. Again a modified mathematical formalism known as tanh-method has the merit to evaluate the soliton features in relation to its expectation in space. The method has its success in finding the solitary waves along with other exciting formation of shock-like wave, soliton radiation in soliton propagation. The results have more realistic interpretation in showing explicitly the interaction of magnetic field and impurity caused by dust charge variation.     

Physical Properties of Wave Motion in Inclined Magnetic Fields within Sunspot Penumbrae

At the surface of the Sun, acoustic waves appear to be affected by the presence of strong magnetic fields in active regions. We explore the possibility that the inclined magnetic field in sunspot penumbrae may convert primarily vertically-propagating acoustic waves into elliptical motion. We use helioseismic holography to measure the modulus and phase of the correlation between incoming acoustic waves and the local surface motion within two sunspots. These correlations are modeled by assuming the surface motion to be elliptical, and we explore the properties of the elliptical motion on the magnetic-field inclination. We also demonstrate that the phase shift of the outward-propagating waves is opposite to the phase shift of the inward-propagating waves in stronger, more vertical fields, but similar to the inward phase shifts in weaker, more-inclined fields.     

Reflection Properties of Gravito-MHD Waves in an Inhomogeneous Horizontal Magnetic Field

We derive the dispersion equation for gravito-magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) waves in an isothermal, gravitationally stratified plasma with a horizontal inhomogeneous magnetic field. Sound and Alfvén speeds are constant. Under these conditions, it is possible to derive analytically the equations for gravito-MHD waves. The high values of the viscous and magnetic Reynolds numbers in the solar atmosphere imply that the dissipative terms in the MHD equations are negligible, except in layers around the positions where the frequency of the MHD wave equals the local Alfvén or slow wave frequency. Outside these layers the MHD waves are accurately described by the equations of ideal MHD. We consider waves that propagate energy upward in the atmosphere. For the plane boundary, z=0, between two isothermal plasma regions with horizontal but different magnetic fields, we discuss the boundary conditions and derive the equations for the reflection and transmission coefficients. In the simpler case of a gravitationally stratified plasma without magnetic field, these coefficients describe the reflection and transmission properties of gravito-acoustic waves.     

The Effect of a Twisted Magnetic Field on the Nature of Kink MHD Waves

We consider a pressureless plasma in a thin magnetic-flux tube with a twisted magnetic field. We study the effect of twisted magnetic field on the nature of propagating kink waves. To do this, the restoring forces of oscillations in the linear ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) were obtained. In the presence of a twisted magnetic field, the ratio of the magnetic-tension force to the gradient of the magnetic pressure increases for the mode with negative azimuthal wave number, but it decreases for the mode with positive azimuthal wave number. For the kink mode with positive azimuthal mode number, the ratio of the forces is more affected by the twisted magnetic field in dense loops. For the kink mode with negative azimuthal mode number, the perturbed magnetic pressure is negligible under some conditions. The magnetic twist increases (diminishes) the damping of the kink waves with positive (negative) azimuthal mode number due to resonant absorption. Our conclusion is that introducing a twisted magnetic field breaks the symmetry between the nature of the kink waves with positive and negative azimuthal wave number, and the wave can be a purely Alfvénic wave in the entire loop.     

The dynamo theory of plasma turbulence wave in rotating celestial bodies

The various modes of plasma turbulence waves (including MHD waves) are easily excited under cosmic circumstances. In this paper, if we consider that the celestial bodies rotate, there is a source term generated for the magnetic induced equation by the excited plasma turbulence waves. If we expand the turbulent field in the Fourier series and include rotation velocity, the dynamo equation for turbulent waves is obtained. We have also obtained the solutions of various wave forms corresponding to different rotation velocities and then we significantly discuss the magnetic fields in the Sun, planets, and other celestial bodies.