3,601 research outputs found
Lambda-effect from forced turbulence simulations
Aims: We determine the components of the -effect tensor that
quantifies the contributions to the turbulent momentum transport even for
uniform rotation. Methods: Three-dimensional numerical simulations are used to
study turbulent transport in triply periodic cubes under the influence of
rotation and anisotropic forcing. Comparison is made with analytical results
obtained via the so-called minimal tau-approximation. Results: In the case
where the turbulence intensity in the vertical direction dominates, the
vertical stress is always negative. This situation is expected to occur in
stellar convection zones. The horizontal component of the stress is weaker and
exhibits a maximum at latitude 30 degrees - regardless of how rapid the
rotation is. The minimal tau-approximation captures many of the qualitative
features of the numerical results, provided the relaxation time tau is close to
the turnover time, i.e. the Strouhal number is of order unity.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Bringing global gyrokinetic turbulence simulations to the transport timescale using a multiscale approach
The vast separation dividing the characteristic times of energy confinement
and turbulence in the core of toroidal plasmas makes first-principles
prediction on long timescales extremely challenging. Here we report the
demonstration of a multiple-timescale method that enables coupling global
gyrokinetic simulations with a transport solver to calculate the evolution of
the self-consistent temperature profile. This method, which exhibits resiliency
to the intrinsic fluctuations arising in turbulence simulations, holds
potential for integrating nonlocal gyrokinetic turbulence simulations into
predictive, whole-device models.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Kinematic alpha effect in isotropic turbulence simulations
Using numerical simulations at moderate magnetic Reynolds numbers up to 220
it is shown that in the kinematic regime, isotropic helical turbulence leads to
an alpha effect and a turbulent diffusivity whose values are independent of the
magnetic Reynolds number, \Rm, provided \Rm exceeds unity. These turbulent
coefficients are also consistent with expectations from the first order
smoothing approximation. For small values of \Rm, alpha and turbulent
diffusivity are proportional to \Rm. Over finite time intervals meaningful
values of alpha and turbulent diffusivity can be obtained even when there is
small-scale dynamo action that produces strong magnetic fluctuations. This
suggests that small-scale dynamo-generated fields do not make a correlated
contribution to the mean electromotive force.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
The "zeroth law" of turbulence: Isotropic turbulence simulations revisited
The dimensionless kinetic energy dissipation rate C_epsilon is estimated from
numerical simulations of statistically stationary isotropic box turbulence that
is slightly compressible. The Taylor microscale Reynolds number Re_lambda range
is 20 < Re_lambda < 220 and the statistical stationarity is achieved with a
random phase forcing method. The strong Re_lambda dependence of C_epsilon
abates when Re_lambda approx. 100 after which C_epsilon slowly approaches
approx 0.5 a value slightly different to previously reported simulations but in
good agreement with experimental results. If C_epsilon is estimated at a
specific time step from the time series of the quantities involved it is
necessary to account for the time lag between energy injection and energy
dissipation. Also, the resulting value can differ from the ensemble averaged
value by up to +-30%. This may explain the spread in results from previously
published estimates of C_epsilon.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Particle-in-cell and weak turbulence simulations of plasma emission
The plasma emission process, which is the mechanism for solar type II and
type III radio bursts phenomena, is studied by means of particle-in-cell and
weak turbulence simulation methods. By plasma emission, it is meant as a loose
description of a series of processes, starting from the solar flare associated
electron beam exciting Langmuir and ion-acoustic turbulence, and subsequent
partial conversion of beam energy into the radiation energy by nonlinear
processes. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is rigorous but the method is
computationally intense, and it is difficult to diagnose the results. Numerical
solution of equations of weak turbulence (WT) theory, termed WT simulation, on
the other hand, is efficient and naturally lends itself to diagnostics since
various terms in the equation can be turned on or off. Nevertheless, WT theory
is based upon a number of assumptions. It is, therefore, desirable to compare
the two methods, which is carried out for the first time in the present paper
with numerical solutions of the complete set of equations of the WT theory and
with two-dimensional electromagnetic PIC simulation. Upon making quantitative
comparisons it is found that WT theory is largely valid, although some
discrepancies are also found. The present study also indicates that it requires
large computational resources in order to accurately simulate the radiation
emission processes, especially for low electron beam speeds. Findings from the
present paper thus imply that both methods may be useful for the study of solar
radio emissions as they are complementary.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure
Evidence of Critical Balance in Kinetic Alfven Wave Turbulence Simulations
A numerical simulation of kinetic plasma turbulence is performed to assess
the applicability of critical balance to kinetic, dissipation scale turbulence.
The analysis is performed in the frequency domain to obviate complications
inherent in performing a local analysis of turbulence. A theoretical model of
dissipation scale critical balance is constructed and compared to simulation
results, and excellent agreement is found. This result constitutes the first
evidence of critical balance in a kinetic turbulence simulation and provides
evidence of an anisotropic turbulence cascade extending into the dissipation
range. We also perform an Eulerian frequency analysis of the simulation data
and compare it to the results of a previous study of magnetohydrodynamic
turbulence simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Physics of Plasma
Spatio-temporal detection of Kelvin waves in quantum turbulence simulations
We present evidence of Kelvin excitations in space-time resolved spectra of
numerical simulations of quantum turbulence. Kelvin waves are transverse and
circularly polarized waves that propagate along quantized vortices, for which
the restitutive force is the tension of the vortex line, and which play an
important role in theories of superfluid turbulence. We use the
Gross-Pitaevskii equation to model quantum flows, letting an initial array of
well-organized vortices develop into a turbulent bundle of intertwined vortex
filaments. By achieving high spatial and temporal resolution we are able to
calculate space-time resolved mass density and kinetic energy spectra. Evidence
of Kelvin and sound waves is clear in both spectra. Identification of the waves
allows us to extract the spatial spectrum of Kelvin waves, clarifying their
role in the transfer of energ
- …