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Magneto-immutable turbulence in weakly collisional plasmas

Part of: Focus on Plasma Astrophysics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2019

J. Squire Open the ORCID record for J. Squire [Opens in a new window] ,
A. A. Schekochihin Open the ORCID record for A. A. Schekochihin [Opens in a new window] ,
E. Quataert Open the ORCID record for E. Quataert [Opens in a new window]  and
M. W. Kunz Open the ORCID record for M. W. Kunz [Opens in a new window]
J. Squire*
Affiliation:
Physics Department, University of Otago, 730 Cumberland St., Dunedin 9016, New Zealand TAPIR, Mailcode 350-17, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
A. A. Schekochihin
Affiliation:
The Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, University of Oxford, Clarendon Laboratory, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3P4, UK Merton College, Oxford OX1 4JD, UK
E. Quataert
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department and Theoretical Astrophysics Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
M. W. Kunz
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, PO Box 451, Princeton, NJ 08543, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

We propose that pressure anisotropy causes weakly collisional turbulent plasmas to self-organize so as to resist changes in magnetic-field strength. We term this effect ‘magneto-immutability’ by analogy with incompressibility (resistance to changes in pressure). The effect is important when the pressure anisotropy becomes comparable to the magnetic pressure, suggesting that in collisionless, weakly magnetized (high-$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$) plasmas its dynamical relevance is similar to that of incompressibility. Simulations of magnetized turbulence using the weakly collisional Braginskii model show that magneto-immutable turbulence is surprisingly similar, in most statistical measures, to critically balanced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. However, in order to minimize magnetic-field variation, the flow direction becomes more constrained than in magnetohydrodynamics, and the turbulence is more strongly dominated by magnetic energy (a non-zero ‘residual energy’). These effects represent key differences between pressure-anisotropic and fluid turbulence, and should be observable in the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}\gtrsim 1$ turbulent solar wind.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasplasma dynamicsspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 85 , Issue 1 , February 2019 , 905850114
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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