8,155 research outputs found
On the Meaning and Inapplicability of the Zeldovich Relations of Magnetohydrodynamics
Considering a plasma with an initially weak large scale field subject to
nonhelical turbulent stirring, Zeldovich (1957), for two-dimensions, followed
by others for three dimensions, and Zeldovich et al. (1983) have presented
formulae of the form . Such ``Zeldovich relations'' have
sometimes been interpreted to provide steady-state relations between the energy
associated with the fluctuating magnetic field and that associated with a large
scale or mean field multiplied by a function that depends on spatial
dimension and a magnetic Reynolds number . Here we dissect the origin of
these relations and pinpoint pitfalls that show why they are inapplicable to
realistic, dynamical MHD turbulence and that they disagree with many numerical
simulations. For 2-D, we show that when the total magnetic field is determined
by a vector potential, the standard Zeldovich relation applies only
transiently, characterizing a maximum possible value that the field energy can
reach before necessarily decaying. in relation to a seed value . In 3-D,
we show that the standard Zeldovich relations are derived by balancing
subdominant terms. In contrast, balancing the dominant terms shows that the
fluctuating field can grow to a value independent of and the initially
imposed , as seen in numerical simulations. We also emphasize that these
Zeldovich relations of nonhelical turbulence imply nothing about the amount
mean field growth in a helical dynamo. In short, by re-analyzing the origin of
the Zeldovich relations, we highlight that they are inapplicable to realistic
steady-states of large MHD turbulence.Comment: 7 pages, accepted to Astronomische Nachrichte
Consequences of Propagating Torsion in Connection-Dynamic Theories of Gravity
We discuss the possibility of constraining theories of gravity in which the
connection is a fundamental variable by searching for observational
consequences of the torsion degrees of freedom. In a wide class of models, the
only modes of the torsion tensor which interact with matter are either a
massive scalar or a massive spin-1 boson. Focusing on the scalar version, we
study constraints on the two-dimensional parameter space characterizing the
theory. For reasonable choices of these parameters the torsion decays quickly
into matter fields, and no long-range fields are generated which could be
discovered by ground-based or astrophysical experiments.Comment: 16 pages plus one figure (plain TeX), MIT-CTP #2291. (Extraordinarily
minor corrections.
Dynamical magnetic relaxation: A nonlinear magnetically driven dynamo
A non-linear, time-dependent, magnetically driven dynamo theory which shows
how magnetically dominated configurations can relax to become helical on the
largest scale available is presented. Coupled time-dependent differential
equations for large scale magnetic helicity, small scale magnetic helicity,
velocity, and the electromotive force are solved. The magnetic helicity on
small scales relaxes to drive significant large scale helical field growth on
dynamical (Alfv\'en crossing) time scales, independent of the magnitude of
finite microphysical transport coefficients, after which the growing kinetic
helicity slows the growth to a viscously limited pace. This magnetically driven
dynamo complements the nonlinear kinetic helicity driven dynamo; for the
latter, the growing magnetic helicity fluctuations suppress, rather than drive,
large scale magnetic helicity growth. A unified set of equations accommodates
both types of dynamos.Comment: 13 pages, in press, Physics of Plasma
Age Differences in Personal Risk Perceptions: A Note on an Exploratory Descriptive Study
The authors test for differences in risk perceptions among different age groups
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