Turbulent kinetic energy in the energy balance of a solar flare

The energy released in solar flares derives from a reconfiguration of magnetic fields to a lower energy state, and is manifested in several forms, including bulk kinetic energy of the coronal mass ejection, acceleration of electrons and ions, and enhanced thermal energy that is ultimately radiated away across the electromagnetic spectrum from optical to X-rays. Using an unprecedented set of coordinated observations, from a suite of instruments, we here report on a hitherto largely overlooked energy component -- the kinetic energy associated with small-scale turbulent mass motions. We show that the spatial location of, and timing of the peak in, turbulent kinetic energy together provide persuasive evidence that turbulent energy may play a key role in the transfer of energy in solar flares. Although the kinetic energy of turbulent motions accounts, at any given time, for only \sim (0.5-1)\% of the energy released, its relatively rapid (\sim1-10~s) energization and dissipation causes the associated throughput of energy (i.e., power) to rival that of major components of the released energy in solar flares, and thus presumably in other astrophysical acceleration sites

Coronal loop scaling laws for various forms of parallel heat conduction

The solar atmosphere is dominated by loops of magnetic fluxes that connect the multi-million degree corona to the much cooler chromosphere. The temperature and density structure of quasi-static loops are determined by the continuous flow of energy from the hot corona to the lower solar atmosphere. Loop scaling laws provide relationships between global properties of the loop (such as the peak temperature, pressure, and length); they follow from the physical variable dependencies of various terms in the energy equation, and, hence, the form of the loop scaling law provides insight into the key physics that control the loop structure. Traditionally, scaling laws have been derived under the assumption of collision-dominated thermal conduction. Here, we examine the impact of different regimes of thermal conduction—collision-dominated, turbulence-dominated, and free-streaming—on the form of the scaling laws relating the loop temperature and heating rate to its pressure and half-length. We show that the scaling laws for turbulence-dominated conduction are fundamentally different than those for collision-dominated and free-streaming conduction, inasmuch as the form of the scaling laws now depend primarily on conditions at the low-temperature, rather than high-temperature, part of the loop. We also establish regimes in the temperature and density space in which each of the applicable scaling laws prevail

Plan de actividades recreativas utilizando como medio el juego de balonmano adaptado, para los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años del sexo masculino, de la circunscripción 117 El Batey de Sánchez, del Consejo Popular Las Ovas del municipio Pinar del Río

Este trabajo fue realizado en la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del Consejo Popular Las Ovas municipio Pinar del Río, el mismo surge debido a la carencia de actividades-físico recreativas destinadas a los adolescentes con edades comprendidas entre 12 y 16 años. Para su realización nos trazamos como problema científico el siguiente: ¿Cómo mejorar la recreación física en los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años de edad del sexo masculino de la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del consejo popular las Ovas? el mismo surge por la problemática que presentan los adolescentes de esta circunscripción, dentro de los cuales podemos mencionar las peleas de gallos, perros, tomeguines, lo cual se pudo comprobar con la aplicación de los diferentes métodos utilizados en nuestro trabajo. Debido a la importancia del mismo nos propusimos el siguiente Objetivo: Aplicar un plan de actividades recreativas utilizando como medio el juego de balonmano adaptado para los adolescentes entre 12 y 16 años de edad del sexo masculino de la circunscripción 117 “El Batey de Sánchez”, del consejo popular Las Ovas municipio Pinar del Rió. Al final del mismo se presentan conclusiones y recomendaciones, las cuales dan respuestas a las interrogantes planteadas al comienz

Multicomponent theory of buoyancy instabilities in magnetized plasmas: The case of magnetic field parallel to gravity

We investigate electromagnetic buoyancy instabilities of the electron-ion plasma with the heat flux based on not the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, but using the multicomponent plasma approach when the momentum equations are solved for each species. We consider a geometry in which the background magnetic field, gravity, and stratification are directed along one axis. The nonzero background electron thermal flux is taken into account. Collisions between electrons and ions are included in the momentum equations. No simplifications usual for the one-fluid MHD-approach in studying these instabilities are used. We derive a simple dispersion relation, which shows that the thermal flux perturbation generally stabilizes an instability for the geometry under consideration. This result contradicts to conclusion obtained in the MHD-approach. We show that the reason of this contradiction is the simplified assumptions used in the MHD analysis of buoyancy instabilities and the role of the longitudinal electric field perturbation which is not captured by the ideal MHD equations. Our dispersion relation also shows that the medium with the electron thermal flux can be unstable, if the temperature gradients of ions and electrons have the opposite signs. The results obtained can be applied to the weakly collisional magnetized plasma objects in laboratory and astrophysics.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Magnetic reconnection via tearing instability in a rotating viscous fluid

The resistive tearing instability of a sheet pinch, first investigated by Kuang and Roberts (1990) for the case of a rapidly rotating inviscid fluid, is studied for arbitrary rotation rate in a visco-resistive fluid. Altogether there are three regimes of the resistive tearing instability which correspond to the particular parameter domain in the (Ω, Pm) plane. Here Ω is the angular velocity of the medium which is normalized to the Alfvén time and Pm is the magnetic Prandtl number

On-off intermittent regulation of plasma turbulence

A standard low-dimensional model of the dynamical regulation of plasma turbulence including zonal flows is considered in a statistical sense by taking into account the fluctuating nature of the source driving the system. The probability distribution functions of the turbulent kinetic energy and the zonal flows energy are derived. The dynamics become on-off intermittent close to the bifurcation thresholds. In its low confinement mode, without zonal flows, the system can also display random finite amplitude burst close to marginal stability, a result reminiscent of the self-organized-criticality paradigm applied to flux-driven plasma turbulence

Stochastic acceleration by multi-island contraction during turbulent magnetic reconnection

The acceleration of charged particles in magnetized plasmas is considered during turbulent multi-island magnetic reconnection. The particle acceleration model is constructed for an ensemble of islands which produce adiabatic compression of the particles. The model takes into account the statistical fluctuations in the compression rate experienced by the particles during their transport in the acceleration region. The evolution of the particle distribution function is described as a simultaneous first- and second-order Fermi acceleration process. While the efficiency of the first-order process is controlled by the average rate of compression, the second-order process involves the variance in the compression rate. Moreover, the acceleration efficiency associated with the second-order process involves both the Eulerian properties of the compression field and the Lagrangian properties of the particles. The stochastic contribution to the acceleration is nonresonant and can dominate the systematic part in the case of a large variance in the compression rate. The model addresses the role of the second-order process, how the latter can be related to the large-scale turbulent transport of particles, and explains some features of the numerical simulations of particle acceleration by multi-island contraction during magnetic reconnection

Compressible hall magnetohydrodynamics in a strong magnetic field

Plasma dynamics becomes anisotropic in the presence of a strong background magnetic field, a feature that may be exploited to yield reduced fluid models. The reduced Hall-magnetohydrodynamics model derived in a recent work by Gomez et al. [Phys. Plasmas15, 102303 (2008)], reflecting two-fluid effects such as the Hall current and the electron pressure, is extended to account for a crucial aspect of the role of the plasma compressibility, i.e., the compression of the guide field. This reduced model constitutes therefore a description of the two-fluid plasmadynamics in a strong external magnetic field, which can be used also for values of the plasma pressure parameter β of the order of unity or smaller

Keeping her in the family Women in gender in Southampton, c.1400 - c.1600

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN016945 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Structures, profile consistency, and transport scaling in electrostatic convection

Two mechanisms at the origin of profile consistency in models of electrostatic turbulence in magnetized plasmas are considered. One involves turbulent diffusion in collisionless plasmas and the subsequent turbulent equipartition of Lagrangian invariants. By the very nature of its definition, this state can only be reached in the absence of imposed fluxes of the transported quantities. As such, the concept of turbulent equipartition cannot be used to interpret profiles in numerical simulations of interchange modes, as it has nevertheless been done in the past. It is shown in this article that for interchange modes, profile consistency is in fact due to mixing by persistent large-scale convective cells. This mechanism is not a turbulent diffusion, cannot occur in collisionless systems, and is the analog of the well-known laminar “magnetic flux expulsion” in magnetohydrodynamics. This expulsion process involves a “pinch” across closed streamlines and further results in the formation of pressure fingers along the separatrix of the convective cells. By nature, these coherent structures are dissipative because the mixing process that leads to their formation relies on a finite amount of collisional diffusion. Numerical simulations of two-dimensional interchange modes confirm the role of laminar expulsion by convective cells for profile consistency and structure formation. They also show that the fingerlike pressure structures ultimately control the rate of heat transport across the plasma layer and thus the transport scaling at large Rayleigh numbers. This contradicts mixing-length arguments which do not account for collisional processes. For interchange modes, the problem of coherent structure formation, profile consistency, and transport scaling are thus intimately linked