329 research outputs found
Blob formation and acceleration in the solar wind: role of converging flows and viscosity
The effect of viscosity and of converging flows on the formation of blobs in
the slow solar wind is analysed by means of resistive MHD simulations. The
regions above coronal streamers where blobs are formed (Sheeley et al., 1997)
are simulated using a model previously proposed by Einaudi et al. (1999). The
result of our investigation is twofold. First, we demonstrate a new mechanism
for enhanced momentum transfer between a forming blob and the fast solar wind
surrounding it. The effect is caused by the longer range of the electric field
caused by the tearing instability forming the blob. The electric field reaches
into the fast solar wind and interacts with it, causing a viscous drag that is
global in nature rather than local across fluid layers as it is the case in
normal uncharged fluids (like water). Second, the presence of a magnetic cusp
at the tip of a coronal helmet streamer causes a converging of the flows on the
two sides of the streamer and a direct push of the forming island by the fast
solar wind, resulting in a more efficient momentum exchange
Multi-beam Energy Moments of Multibeam Particle Velocity Distributions
High resolution electron and ion velocity distributions, f(v), which consist
of N effectively disjoint beams, have been measured by NASA's Magnetospheric
Multi-Scale Mission (MMS) observatories and in reconnection simulations.
Commonly used standard velocity moments generally assume a single
mean-flow-velocity for the entire distribution, which can lead to
counterintuitive results for a multibeam f(v). An example is the (false)
standard thermal energy moment of a pair of equal and opposite cold particle
beams, which is nonzero even though each beam has zero thermal energy. By
contrast, a multibeam moment of two or more beams has no false thermal energy.
A multibeam moment is obtained by taking a standard moment of each beam and
then summing over beams. In this paper we will generalize these notions,
explore their consequences and apply them to an f(v) which is sum of
tri-Maxwellians. Both standard and multibeam energy moments have coherent and
incoherent forms. Examples of incoherent moments are the thermal energy
density, the pressure and the thermal energy flux (enthalpy flux plus heat
flux). Corresponding coherent moments are the bulk kinetic energy density, the
RAM pressure and the bulk kinetic energy flux. The false part of an incoherent
moment is defined as the difference between the standard incoherent moment and
the corresponding multibeam moment. The sum of a pair of corresponding coherent
and incoherent moments will be called the undecomposed moment. Undecomposed
moments are independent of whether the sum is standard or multibeam and
therefore have advantages when studying moments of measured f(v).Comment: 27 single-spaced pages. Three Figure
Attractive Potential around a Thermionically Emitting Microparticle
We present a simulation study of the charging of a dust grain immersed in a
plasma, considering the effect of electron emission from the grain (thermionic
effect). It is shown that the OML theory is no longer reliable when electron
emission becomes large: screening can no longer be treated within the
Debye-Huckel approach and an attractive potential well forms, leading to the
possibility of attractive forces on other grains with the same polarity. We
suggest to perform laboratory experiments where emitting dust grains could be
used to create non-conventional dust crystals or macro-molecules.Comment: 3 figures. To appear on Physical Review Letter
Spontaneous transition to a fast 3D turbulent reconnection regime
We show how the conversion of magnetic field energy via magnetic reconnection
can progress in a fully three-dimensional, fast, volume-filling regime. An
initial configuration representative of many laboratory, space and
astrophysical plasmas spontaneously evolves from the well-known regime of slow,
resistive reconnection to a new regime that allows to explain the rates of
energy transfer observed in jets emitted from accretion disks, in stellar/solar
flare processes as well as in laboratory plasmas. This process does not require
any pre-existing turbulence seed which often is not observed in the host
systems prior to the onset of the energy conversion. The dynamics critically
depends on the interplay of perturbations developing along the magnetic field
lines and across them, a process possible only in three-dimensions. The
simulations presented here are the first able to show this transition in a
fully three-dimensional configuration.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Signatures of Secondary Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection Driven by Kink Instability of a Flux Rope
The kinetic features of secondary magnetic reconnection in a single flux rope
undergoing internal kink instability are studied by means of three-dimensional
Particle-in-Cell simulations. Several signatures of secondary magnetic
reconnection are identified in the plane perpendicular to the flux rope: a
quadrupolar electron and ion density structure and a bipolar Hall magnetic
field develop in proximity of the reconnection region. The most intense
electric fields form perpendicularly to the local magnetic field, and a
reconnection electric field is identified in the plane perpendicular to the
flux rope. An electron current develops along the reconnection line in the
opposite direction of the electron current supporting the flux rope magnetic
field structure. Along the reconnection line, several bipolar structures of the
electric field parallel to the magnetic field occur making the magnetic
reconnection region turbulent. The reported signatures of secondary magnetic
reconnection can help to localize magnetic reconnection events in space,
astrophysical and fusion plasmas
Čerenkov emission of quasiparallel whistlers by fast electron phase-space holes during magnetic reconnection
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