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Register a new userUnique Topological Characterization of Braided Magnetic Fields
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We introduce a topological flux function to quantify the topology of magnetic braids: non-zero, line-tied magnetic fields whose field lines all connect between two boundaries. This scalar function is an ideal invariant defined on a cross-section of the magnetic field, and measures the average poloidal magnetic flux around any given field line, or the average pairwise crossing number between a given field line and all others. Moreover, its integral over the cross-section yields the relative magnetic helicity. Using the fact that the flux function is also an action in the Hamiltonian formulation of the field line equations, we prove that it uniquely characterizes the field line mapping and hence the magnetic topology.
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A topological flux function is introduced to quantify the topology of magnetic braids: non-zero line-tied magnetic fields whose field lines all connect between two boundaries. This scalar function is an ideal invariant defined on a cross-section of the magnetic field, whose integral over the cross-section yields the relative magnetic helicity. Recognising that the topological flux function is an action in the Hamiltonian formulation of the field line equations, a simple formula for its differential is obtained. We use this to prove that the topological flux function uniquely characterises the field line mapping and hence the magnetic topology. A simple example is presented.
We examine the dynamics of magnetic flux tubes containing non-trivial field line braiding (or linkage), using mathematical and computational modelling, in the context of testable predictions for the laboratory and their significance for solar coronal heating. We investigate the existence of braided force-free equilibria, and demonstrate that for a field anchored at perfectly-conducting plates, these equilibria exist and contain current sheets whose thickness scales inversely with the braid complexity - as measured for example by the topological entropy. By contrast, for a periodic domain braided exact equilibria typically do not exist, while approximate equilibria contain thin current sheets. In the presence of resistivity, reconnection is triggered at the current sheets and a turbulent relaxation ensues. We finish by discussing the properties of the turbulent relaxation and the existence of constraints that may mean that the final state is not the linear force-free field predicted by Taylors hypothesis.
The Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability of a shear layer with an initially-uniform magnetic field in the direction of flow is studied in the framework of 2D incompressible magnetohydrodynamics with finite resistivity and viscosity using direct numerical simulations. The shear layer evolves freely, with no external forcing, and thus broadens in time as turbulent stresses transport momentum across it. As with KH-unstable flows in hydrodynamics, the instability here features a conjugate stable mode for every unstable mode in the absence of dissipation. Stable modes are shown to transport momentum up its gradient, shrinking the layer width whenever they exceed unstable modes in amplitude. In simulations with weak magnetic fields, the linear instability is minimally affected by the magnetic field, but enhanced small-scale fluctuations relative to the hydrodynamic case are observed. These enhanced fluctuations coincide with increased energy dissipation and faster layer broadening, with these features more pronounced in simulations with stronger fields. These trends result from the magnetic field reducing the effects of stable modes relative to the transfer of energy to small scales. As field strength increases, stable modes become less excited and thus transport less momentum against its gradient. Furthermore, the energy that would otherwise transfer back to the driving shear due to stable modes is instead allowed to cascade to small scales, where it is lost to dissipation. Approximations of the turbulent state in terms of a reduced set of modes are explored. While the Reynolds stress is well-described using just two modes per wavenumber at large scales, the Maxwell stress is not.
(abridged) There exists a substantial disagreement between computer simulation results and high-energy density laboratory experiments of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability Kuranz et al. (2010). We adopt the Braginskii formulation for transport in hot, dense plasma, implement and verify the additional physics modules, and conduct a computational study of a single-mode RTI in two dimensions with various combinations of the newly implemented modules. We find that magnetic fields reach levels on the order of 11 MG in the absence of thermal conduction. We observe denting of the RT spike tip and generation of additional higher order modes as a result of these fields. Contrary to interpretation presented in earlier work Nishiguchi (2002), the additional mode is not generated due to modified anisotropic heat transport effects but due to dynamical effect of self-generated magnetic fields. The main effects of thermal conduction are a reduction of the RT instability growth rate (by about 20% for conditions considered here) and inhibited mixing on small scales. In this case, the maximum self-generated magnetic fields are weaker (approximately 1.7 MG). These self-generated magnetic fields are of very similar strength compared to magnetic fields observed recently in HED laboratory experiments Manuel et al. (2012). We find that thermal conduction plays the dominant role in the evolution of the model RTI system considered. It smears out small-scale structure and reduces the RTI growth rate. This may account for the relatively featureless RT spikes seen in experiments, but does not explain mass extensions observed in experiments. Resistivity and related heat source terms were not included in the present work, but we estimate their impact on RTI as modest and not affecting our main conclusions. Resistive effects will be discussed in detail in the next paper in the series.
We study the spatio-temporal behavior of the Elsasser variables describing magnetic and velocity field fluctuations, using direct numerical simulations of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. We consider cases with relatively small, intermediate, and large values of a mean background magnetic field, and with null, small, and high cross-helicity (correlations between the velocity and the magnetic field). Wavenumber-dependent time correlation functions are computed for the different simulations. From these correlation functions, the decorrelation time is computed and compared with different theoretical characteristic times: the local non-linear time, the random-sweeping time, and the Alfvenic time. It is found that decorrelation times are dominated by sweeping effects for low values of the mean magnetic field and for low values of the cross-helicity, while for large values of the background field or of the cross-helicity and for wave vectors sufficiently aligned with the guide field, decorrelation times are controlled by Alfvenic effects. Finally, we observe counter-propagation of Alfvenic fluctuations due to reflections produced by inhomogeneities in the total magnetic field. This effect becomes more prominent in flows with large cross-helicity, strongly modifying the propagation of waves in turbulent magnetohydrodynamic flows.
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