Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userFast magnetic field amplification in the early Universe: growth of collisionless plasma instabilities in turbulent media
163
0
0.0
(
0
)
Added by
Diego Falceta-Goncalves
Publication date
2015
fields
Physics
and research's language is
English
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
In this work we report a numerical study of the cosmic magnetic field amplification due to collisionless plasma instabilities. The collisionless magnetohydrodynamic equations derived account for the pressure anisotropy that leads, in specific conditions, to the firehose and mirror instabilities. We study the time evolution of seed fields in turbulence under the influence of such instabilities. An approximate analytical time evolution of magnetic field is provided. The numerical simulations and the analytical predictions are compared. We found that i) amplification of magnetic field was efficient in firehose unstable turbulent regimes, but not in the mirror unstable models, ii) the growth rate of the magnetic energy density is much faster than the turbulent dynamo, iii) the efficient amplification occurs at small scales. The analytical prediction for the correlation between the growth timescales with pressure anisotropy ratio is confirmed by the numerical simulations. These results reinforce the idea that pressure anisotropies - driven naturally in a turbulent collisionless medium, e.g. the intergalactic medium -, could efficiently amplify the magnetic field in the early Universe (post-recombination era), previous to the collapse of the first large-scale gravitational structures. This mechanism, though fast for the small scale fields ($sim$kpc scales), is however unable to provide relatively strong magnetic fields at large scales. Other mechanisms that were not accounted here (e.g., collisional turbulence once instabilities are quenched, velocity shear, or gravitationally induced inflows of gas into galaxies and clusters) could operate afterwards to build up large scale coherent field structures in the long time evolution.
rate research
Read More
Magnetic fields pervade the entire Universe and affect the formation and evolution of astrophysical systems from cosmological to planetary scales. The generation and dynamical amplification of extragalactic magnetic fields through cosmic times, up to $mu$Gauss levels reported in nearby galaxy clusters, near equipartition with kinetic energy of plasma motions and on scales of at least tens of kiloparsecs, is a major puzzle largely unconstrained by observations. A dynamo effect converting kinetic flow energy into magnetic energy is often invoked in that context, however extragalactic plasmas are weakly collisional (as opposed to magnetohydrodynamic fluids), and whether magnetic-field growth and sustainment through an efficient turbulent dynamo instability is possible in such plasmas is not established. Fully kinetic numerical simulations of the Vlasov equation in a six-dimensional phase space necessary to answer this question have until recently remained beyond computational capabilities. Here, we show by means of such simulations that magnetic-field amplification via a dynamo instability does occur in a stochastically-driven, non-relativistic subsonic flow of initially unmagnetized collisionless plasma. We also find that the dynamo self-accelerates and becomes entangled with kinetic instabilities as magnetization increases. The results suggest that such a plasma dynamo may be realizable in laboratory experiments, support the idea that intracluster medium (ICM) turbulence may have significantly contributed to the amplification of cluster magnetic fields up to near-equipartition levels on a timescale shorter than the Hubble time, and emphasize the crucial role of multiscale kinetic physics in high-energy astrophysical plasmas.
In the present-day Universe, magnetic fields pervade galaxy clusters, with strengths of a few microGauss obtained from Faraday Rotation. Evidence for cluster magnetic fields is also provided by Megaparsec-scale radio emission, namely radio halos and relics. These are commonly found in merging systems and are characterized by a steep radio spectrum. It is widely believed that magneto-hydrodynamical turbulence and shock-waves (re-)accelerate cosmic rays, producing halos and relics. The origin and the amplification of magnetic fields in clusters is not well understood. It has been proposed that turbulence drives a small-scaledynamo that amplifies seed magnetic fields (primordial and/or injected by galactic outflows, as active galactic nuclei, starbursts, or winds). At high redshift, radio halos are expected to be faint, due to the Inverse Compton losses and dimming effect with distance. Moreover, Faraday Rotation measurements are difficult to obtain. If detected, distant radio halosprovide an alternative tool to investigate magnetic field amplification. Here, we report LOFAR observations which reveal diffuse radio emission in massive clusters when the Universe was only half of its present age, with a sample occurrence fraction of about 50%. The high radio luminosities indicate that these clusters have similar magnetic field strengths to those in nearby clusters, and suggest that magnetic field amplification is fast during the first phases ofcluster formation.
We compare DNS calculations of homogeneous isotropic turbulence with the statistical properties of intra-cluster turbulence from the Matryoshka Run (Miniati 2014) and find remarkable similarities between their inertial ranges. This allowed us to use the time dependent statistical properties of intra-cluster turbulence to evaluate dynamo action in the intra-cluster medium, based on earlier results from numerically resolved nonlinear magneto-hydrodynamic turbulent dynamo (Beresnyak 2012). We argue that this approach is necessary (a) to properly normalize dynamo action to the available intra-cluster turbulent energy and (b) to overcome the limitations of low Re affecting current numerical models of the intra-cluster medium. We find that while the properties of intra-cluster magnetic field are largely insensitive to the value and origin of the seed field, the resulting values for the Alfven speed and the outer scale of the magnetic field are consistent with current observational estimates, basically confirming the idea that magnetic field in todays galaxy clusters is a record of its past turbulent activity.
We investigate an efficient mechanism for generating magnetic fields in turbulent, collisionless plasmas. By using fully kinetic, particle-in-cell simulations of an initially non-magnetized plasma, we inspect the genesis of magnetization, in a nonlinear regime. The complex motion is initiated via a Taylor-Green vortex, and the plasma locally develops strong electron temperature anisotropy, due to the strain tensor of the turbulent flow. Subsequently, in a domino effect, the anisotropy triggers a Weibel instability, localized in space. In such active wave-particle interaction regions, the magnetic field seed grows exponentially and spreads to larger scales due to the interaction with the underlying stirring motion. Such a self-feeding process might explain magneto-genesis in a variety of astrophysical plasmas, wherever turbulence is present.
Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the Universe. Extragalactic disks, halos and clusters have consistently been shown, via diffuse radio-synchrotron emission and Faraday rotation measurements, to exhibit magnetic field strengths ranging from a few nG to tens of $mu$G. The energy density of these fields is typically comparable to the energy density of the fluid motions of the plasma in which they are embedded, making magnetic fields essential players in the dynamics of the luminous matter. The standard theoretical model for the origin of these strong magnetic fields is through the amplification of tiny seed fields via turbulent dynamo to the level consistent with current observations. Here we demonstrate, using laser-produced colliding plasma flows, that turbulence is indeed capable of rapidly amplifying seed fields to near equipartition with the turbulent fluid motions. These results support the notion that turbulent dynamo is a viable mechanism responsible for the observed present-day magnetization of the Universe.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
