Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium: a Retrospective Review
- Mechanism of Formation of Atmospheric Turbulence Relevant for Optical Astronomy
- Properties of Atomic Gas in Spiral Galaxies
- Turbulence in the Ionized Gas in Spiral Galaxies
- Probing Interstellar Turbulence in the Warm Ionized Medium using Emission Lines
- The Spectrum & Galactic Distribution of MicroTurbulence in Diffuse Ionized Gas
- Small Scale Structure and Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium
- What is the Reynolds Number of the Reynolds' Layer?
- Photoionized Gas in the Galactic Halo
- Turbulent Heating of the Diffuse Ionized Gas
- Cosmic Rays in Interstellar Turbulence
- Turbulence in Line-Driven Stellar Winds
- An Introduction to Compressible MHD Turbulence
- Turbulence in Atomic Hydrogen
- Supershells in Spiral Galaxies
- The Size Distribution of Superbubbles in the Interstellar Medium
- Large-Scale Motions in the ISM of Elliptical and Spiral Galaxies
- Vortical Motions Driven by Supernova Explosions
- The Intermittent Dissipation of Turbulence: is it Observed in the Interstellar Medium?
- Chemistry in Turbulent Flows
- Supersonic Turbulence in Giant Extragalactic HII Regions
- Turbulence in HII regions: New results
- Hypersonic Turbulence of H2O Masers
- Water Masers Tracing Alfvenic Turbulence and Magnetic Fields in W51 M and W49 N
- Turbulence in the Ursa Major cirrus cloud
- The Collisions of HVCs with a Magnetized Gaseous Disk
- The Initial Stellar Mass Function as a Statistical Sample of Turbulent Cloud Structure
- The Structure of Molecular Clouds: are they Fractal?
- Diagnosing Properties of Turbulent Flows from Spectral Line Observations of the Molecular Interstellar Medium
- Centroid Velocity Increments as a Probe of the Turbulent Velocity Field in Interstellar Molecular Clouds
- High-Resolution C18O Mapping Observations of Heiles' Cloud 2 – Statistical Properties of the Line Width –
- Observations of Magnetic Fields in Dense Interstellar Clouds: Implications for MHD Turbulence and Cloud Evolution
- The Density PDFs of Supersonic Random Flows
- Turbulence as an Organizing Agent in the ISM
- Turbulence and Magnetic Reconnection in the Interstellar Medium
- The Evolution of Self-Gravitating, Magnetized, Turbulent Clouds: Numerical Experiments
- Super–Alfvénic Turbulent Fragmentation in Molecular Clouds
- Decay Timescales of MHD Turbulence in Molecular Clouds
- Numerical Magnetohydrodynamic Studies of Turbulence and Star Formation
- Direct Numerical Simulations of Compressible Magnetohydrodynamical Turbulence
- Fragmentation in Molecular Clouds: The Formation of a Stellar Cluster
- Accretion Disk Turbulence
- List of participants
Small Scale Structure and Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium: a Retrospective Review
- Mechanism of Formation of Atmospheric Turbulence Relevant for Optical Astronomy
- Properties of Atomic Gas in Spiral Galaxies
- Turbulence in the Ionized Gas in Spiral Galaxies
- Probing Interstellar Turbulence in the Warm Ionized Medium using Emission Lines
- The Spectrum & Galactic Distribution of MicroTurbulence in Diffuse Ionized Gas
- Small Scale Structure and Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium
- What is the Reynolds Number of the Reynolds' Layer?
- Photoionized Gas in the Galactic Halo
- Turbulent Heating of the Diffuse Ionized Gas
- Cosmic Rays in Interstellar Turbulence
- Turbulence in Line-Driven Stellar Winds
- An Introduction to Compressible MHD Turbulence
- Turbulence in Atomic Hydrogen
- Supershells in Spiral Galaxies
- The Size Distribution of Superbubbles in the Interstellar Medium
- Large-Scale Motions in the ISM of Elliptical and Spiral Galaxies
- Vortical Motions Driven by Supernova Explosions
- The Intermittent Dissipation of Turbulence: is it Observed in the Interstellar Medium?
- Chemistry in Turbulent Flows
- Supersonic Turbulence in Giant Extragalactic HII Regions
- Turbulence in HII regions: New results
- Hypersonic Turbulence of H2O Masers
- Water Masers Tracing Alfvenic Turbulence and Magnetic Fields in W51 M and W49 N
- Turbulence in the Ursa Major cirrus cloud
- The Collisions of HVCs with a Magnetized Gaseous Disk
- The Initial Stellar Mass Function as a Statistical Sample of Turbulent Cloud Structure
- The Structure of Molecular Clouds: are they Fractal?
- Diagnosing Properties of Turbulent Flows from Spectral Line Observations of the Molecular Interstellar Medium
- Centroid Velocity Increments as a Probe of the Turbulent Velocity Field in Interstellar Molecular Clouds
- High-Resolution C18O Mapping Observations of Heiles' Cloud 2 – Statistical Properties of the Line Width –
- Observations of Magnetic Fields in Dense Interstellar Clouds: Implications for MHD Turbulence and Cloud Evolution
- The Density PDFs of Supersonic Random Flows
- Turbulence as an Organizing Agent in the ISM
- Turbulence and Magnetic Reconnection in the Interstellar Medium
- The Evolution of Self-Gravitating, Magnetized, Turbulent Clouds: Numerical Experiments
- Super–Alfvénic Turbulent Fragmentation in Molecular Clouds
- Decay Timescales of MHD Turbulence in Molecular Clouds
- Numerical Magnetohydrodynamic Studies of Turbulence and Star Formation
- Direct Numerical Simulations of Compressible Magnetohydrodynamical Turbulence
- Fragmentation in Molecular Clouds: The Formation of a Stellar Cluster
- Accretion Disk Turbulence
- List of participants
Summary
I discuss what we have learned about the nature of interstellar turbulence from the technique of radio wave scintillation. My main interest is in the form of the turbulence, i.e. what physical models and equations are appropriate. Radio scintillation observations show that the density irregularities responsible for radio wave scintillation are elongated and probably magnetic-field aligned and characterized by a Kolmogorov spatial power spectrum. It seems reasonable, and almost unavoidable, that the plasma density fluctuations responsible for these scintillations coexist with and are produced by fluctuations in magnetic field and plasma flow velocity which share these properties of the density fluctuations. The main thesis of this paper is that magnetic field and plasma velocity fluctuations with such properties emerge from approximate statements of magnetohydrodynamics such as reduced magnetohydrodynamics or two dimensional magnetohydrodynamics. It is suggested that much insight regarding interstellar magnetohydrodynamics can be gained from study of these relatively simple and intellectually accessible equations.
Introduction
This paper will deal with turbulence in the ionized portion of the interstellar medium. The theoretical ideas invoked will therefore be from the field of plasma turbulence, which in some respects differs from hydrodynamic turbulence. My primary interest, in keeping with the title of this paper, will be in the fluctuations which occur on spatial scales much less than the outer scales of the turbulence, scales which may be termed part of the inertial subrange.
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- Interstellar Turbulence , pp. 41 - 48Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1999
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