2015/09/30 by P. Pongkitiwanichakul, Peera Pongkitiwanichakul, F. Cattaneo +6
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Classical mechanics #Computational physics #Dissipation #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Intermittency #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Laminar flow #Magnetic field #Magnetic reconnection #Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence #Magnetohydrodynamics #Mechanics #Physics #Plasma #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Statistical physics #Turbulence #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.1093/mnras/stv2008
6 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2015/10/02 · openalex publication_date 2015/10/05 · arxiv updated 2015/10/14 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
In this work, we study the process of energy dissipation triggered by a slow large-scale motion of a magnetized conducting fluid. Our consideration is motivated by the problem of heating the solar corona, which is believed to be governed by fast reconnection events set off by the slow motion of magnetic field lines anchored in the photospheric plasma. To elucidate the physics governing the disruption of the imposed laminar motion and the energy transfer to small scales, we propose a simplified model where the large-scale motion of magnetic field lines is prescribed not at the footpoints but rather imposed volumetrically. As a result, the problem can be treated numerically with an efficient, highly accurate spectral method, allowing us to use a resolution and statistical ensemble exceeding those of the previous work. We find that, even though the large-scale deformations are slow, they eventually lead to reconnection events that drive a turbulent state at smaller scales. The small-scale turbulence displays many of the universal features of field-guided magnetohydrodynamic turbulence like a well-developed inertial range spectrum. Based on these observations, we construct a phenomenological model that gives the scalings of the amplitude of the fluctuations and the energy-dissipation rate as functions of the input parameters. We find good agreement between the numerical results and the predictions of the model.