32 research outputs found
Screw dynamo in a time-dependent pipe flow
The kinematic dynamo problem is investigated for the flow of a conducting
fluid in a cylindrical, periodic tube with conducting walls. The methods used
are an eigenvalue analysis of the steady regime, and the three-dimensional
solution of the time-dependent induction equation. The configuration and
parameters considered here are close to those of a dynamo experiment planned in
Perm, which will use a torus-shaped channel. We find growth of an initial
magnetic field by more than 3 orders of magnitude. Marked field growth can be
obtained if the braking time is less than 0.2 s and only one diverter is used
in the channel. The structure of the seed field has a strong impact on the
field amplification factor. The generation properties can be improved by adding
ferromagnetic particles to the fluid in order to increase its relative
permeability,but this will not be necessary for the success of the dynamo
experiment. For higher magnetic Reynolds numbers, the nontrivial evolution of
different magnetic modes limits the value of simple `optimistic' and
`pessimistic' estimates.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure
Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Primordial Helicity
Primordial magnetic fields may account for all or part of the fields observed
in galaxies. We consider the evolution of the magnetic fields created by
pseudoscalar effects in the early universe. Such processes can create
force-free fields of maximal helicity; we show that for such a field magnetic
energy inverse cascades to larger scales than it would have solely by flux
freezing and cosmic expansion. For fields generated at the electroweak phase
transition, we find that the predicted wavelength today can in principle be as
large as 10 kpc, and the field strength can be as large as 10^{-10} G.Comment: 13 page
Lensing of ultra-high energy cosmic rays in turbulent magnetic fields
We consider the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays through
turbulent magnetic fields and study the transition between the regimes of
single and multiple images of point-like sources. The transition occurs at
energies around , where is the distance traversed by the
CR's with electric charge in the turbulent magnetic field of root mean
square strength and coherence length . We find that above only sources located in a fraction of a few % of the sky can reach large
amplifications of its principal image or start developing multiple images. New
images appear in pairs with huge magnifications, and they remain amplified over
a significant range of energies. At decreasing energies the fraction of the sky
in which sources can develop multiple images increases, reaching about 50% for
. The magnification peaks become however increasingly narrower and for
their integrated effect becomes less noticeable. If a uniform
magnetic field component is also present it would further narrow down the
peaks, shrinking the energy range in which they can be relevant. Below some kind of scintillation regime is reached, where many demagnified
images of a source are present but with overall total magnification of order
unity. We also search for lensing signatures in the AGASA data studying
two-dimensional correlations in angle and energy and find some interesting
hints.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, final version with minor change
Turbulent diffusion and drift in galactic magnetic fields and the explanation of the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum
We reconsider the scenario in which the knee in the cosmic ray spectrum is
explained as due to a change in the escape mechanism of cosmic rays from the
Galaxy from one dominated by transverse diffusion to one dominated by drifts.
We solve the diffusion equations adopting realistic galactic field models and
using diffusion coefficients appropriate for strong turbulence (with a
Kolmogorov spectrum of fluctuations) and consistent with the assumed magnetic
fields. We show that properly taking into account these effects leads to a
natural explanation of the knee in the spectrum, and a transition towards a
heavier composition above the knee is predicted.Comment: 17 pp., 6 figures; revised version with minor changes. To appear in
JHE
Properties of the Interstellar Medium and the Propagation of Cosmic Rays in the Galaxy
The problem of the origin of cosmic rays in the shocks produced by supernova
explosions at energies below the so called 'knee' (at ~3*10 GeV) in the
energy spectrum is addressed, with special attention to the propagation of the
particles through the inhomogenious interstellar medium and the need to explain
recent anisotropy results, [1]. It is shown that the fractal character of the
matter density and magnetic field distribution leads to the likelihood of a
substantial increase of spatial fluctuations in the cosmic ray energy spectra.
While the spatial distribution of cosmic rays in the vicinity of their sources
(eg. inside the Galactic disk) does not depend much on the character of
propagation and is largely determined by the distribution of their sources, the
distribution at large distances from the Galactic disk depends strongly on the
character of the propagation. In particular, the fractal character of the ISM
leads to what is known as 'anomalous diffusion' and such diffusion helps us to
understand the formation of Cosmic Ray Halo. Anomalous diffusion allows an
explanation of the recent important result from the Chacaltaya extensive air
shower experiment [1], viz. a Galactic Plane Enhancement of cosmic ray
intensity in the Outer Galaxy, which is otherwise absent for the case of the
so-called 'normal' diffusion. All these effects are for just one reason:
anomalous diffusion emphasizes the role of local phenomena in the formation of
cosmic ray characteristics in our Galaxy and elsewhere.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Astropartoicle Physic
Magnetic fields in the early universe in the string approach to MHD
There is a reformulation of magnetohydrodynamics in which the fundamental
dynamical quantities are the positions and velocities of the lines of magnetic
flux in the plasma, which turn out to obey equations of motion very much like
ideal strings. We use this approach to study the evolution of a primordial
magnetic field generated during the radiation-dominated era in the early
Universe. Causality dictates that the field lines form a tangled random
network, and the string-like equations of motion, plus the assumption of
perfect reconnection, inevitably lead to a self-similar solution for the
magnetic field power spectrum. We present the predicted form of the power
spectrum, and discuss insights gained from the string approximation, in
particular the implications for the existence or not of an inverse cascade.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Dark mammoth trunks in the merging galaxy NGC 1316 and a mechanism of cosmic double helices
NGC 1316 is a giant, elliptical galaxy containing a complex network of dark,
dust features. The morphology of these features has been examined in some
detail using a Hubble Space Telescope, Advanced Camera for Surveys image. It is
found that most of the features are constituted of long filaments. There also
exist a great number of dark structures protruding inwards from the filaments.
Many of these structures are strikingly similar to elephant trunks in H II
regions in the Milky Way Galaxy, although much larger. The structures, termed
mammoth trunks, generally are filamentary and often have shapes resembling the
letters V or Y. In some of the mammoth trunks the stem of the Y can be resolved
into two or more filaments, many of which showing signs of being intertwined. A
model of the mammoth trunks, related to a recent theory of elephant trunks, is
proposed. Based on magnetized filaments, the model is capable of giving an
account of the various shapes of the mammoth trunks observed, including the
twined structures.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Inverse cascade in decaying 3D magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
We perform direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional freely decaying
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. For helical magnetic fields an inverse
cascade effect is observed in which power is transfered from smaller scales to
larger scales. The magnetic field reaches a scaling regime with self-similar
evolution, and power law behavior at high wavenumbers. We also find power law
decay in the magnetic and kinematic energies, and power law growth in the
characteristic length scale of the magnetic field.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, minor changes to match published versio
Current status of turbulent dynamo theory: From large-scale to small-scale dynamos
Several recent advances in turbulent dynamo theory are reviewed. High
resolution simulations of small-scale and large-scale dynamo action in periodic
domains are compared with each other and contrasted with similar results at low
magnetic Prandtl numbers. It is argued that all the different cases show
similarities at intermediate length scales. On the other hand, in the presence
of helicity of the turbulence, power develops on large scales, which is not
present in non-helical small-scale turbulent dynamos. At small length scales,
differences occur in connection with the dissipation cutoff scales associated
with the respective value of the magnetic Prandtl number. These differences are
found to be independent of whether or not there is large-scale dynamo action.
However, large-scale dynamos in homogeneous systems are shown to suffer from
resistive slow-down even at intermediate length scales. The results from
simulations are connected to mean field theory and its applications. Recent
work on helicity fluxes to alleviate large-scale dynamo quenching, shear
dynamos, nonlocal effects and magnetic structures from strong density
stratification are highlighted. Several insights which arise from analytic
considerations of small-scale dynamos are discussed.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures, Spa. Sci. Rev., submitted to the special issue
"Magnetism in the Universe" (ed. A. Balogh
Simulations of galactic dynamos
We review our current understanding of galactic dynamo theory, paying
particular attention to numerical simulations both of the mean-field equations
and the original three-dimensional equations relevant to describing the
magnetic field evolution for a turbulent flow. We emphasize the theoretical
difficulties in explaining non-axisymmetric magnetic fields in galaxies and
discuss the observational basis for such results in terms of rotation measure
analysis. Next, we discuss nonlinear theory, the role of magnetic helicity
conservation and magnetic helicity fluxes. This leads to the possibility that
galactic magnetic fields may be bi-helical, with opposite signs of helicity and
large and small length scales. We discuss their observational signatures and
close by discussing the possibilities of explaining the origin of primordial
magnetic fields.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figure, to appear in Lecture Notes in Physics "Magnetic
fields in diffuse media", Eds. E. de Gouveia Dal Pino and A. Lazaria