2025/11/04 by Behara, Sasi M., Seta, Amit
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Fluid dynamics and aerodynamics studies #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) #Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2511.03072
openalex publication_date 2025/11/04 · openalex created_date 2025/11/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The small-scale turbulent dynamo is a key mechanism for amplifying galactic magnetic fields, yet the resulting field morphology remains poorly understood. Using 3D driven turbulence simulations across a range of compressibilities, characterised by Mach number, and Minkowski functionals, we quantitatively investigate the morphology of magnetic fields generated by the small-scale turbulent dynamo in both the exponentially growing kinematic stage and the statistically steady saturated stage. In both stages and across all Mach numbers, we find that the magnetic field departs significantly from a Gaussian random field. Magnetic structures are statistically less curved and more interconnected in the saturated stage than in the kinematic stage, with these morphological differences decreasing as compressibility increases. Our work provides a quantitative description of how density fluctuations in turbulence and the back-reaction of amplified magnetic fields via the Lorentz force together shape complex, non-Gaussian magnetic structures, and offers a valuable framework for comparing simulations with both analytical models and polarisation observations.