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At least 415 records · Page 23

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NASA NTRS1984

Anomalous transport by magnetohydrodynamic Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction

The high latitude, or downstream flank, and dayside low latitude magnetospheric boundaries are modeled in an MHD simulation of Kelvin-Helmholtz instablities in a compressible plasma for parallel and transverse configurations. Detailed attention is given to the nonlinear consequences of the instabilities for several different Alfven and sound Mach numbers in both configurations. Emphasis is given to the anomalous transport of momentum and energy by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities across the magnetospheric boundary, which is crucial in evaluating the instabilities' contribution to magnetospheric convection. It is concluded that the anomalous tangential stress at the magnetospheric boundary caused by the instability may be of the order of 1 percent of the magnetosheath flow momentum adjacent to the boundary, and gives a contribution to the convection potential drop over the polar cap of 10-30 kV.

Miura, A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Resonant absorption of phase-mixed Alfven surface waves in ideal and resistive magnetohydrodynamics - Initial-value problem

An initial-value approach to the study of Alfven surface waves, in which the linearized MHD equations are solved numerically in time and space, is considered. A disturbance of a particular wavelength is excited in a nonuniform plasma and its temporal evolution is simulated with numerical solutions of the ideal and resistive MHD equations in slab geometry. This procedure generates a continuous spectrum and therefore simulates phase-mixing and subsequent resonant absorption. Energy in the phase-mixed surface waves resistively dissipates with the absorption time and width scaling as resistivity to the -1/3 and 1/6 powers, respectively.

Steinolfson, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Fast-mode magnetohydrodynamic waves in coronal holes and the solar wind

Fast-mode MHD waves in the solar corona can propagate in any direction relative to the background magnetic field. In coronal holes, they refract into regions of low Alfven speed and are relatively difficult to damp. These characteristics lead to the possibility that fast-mode waves transport energy from magnetically closed coronal regions into coronal holes, that they are refracted into the central regions of coronal holes, and that they deposit most of their energy in the region of supersonic flow of high-speed solar wind streams emanating from coronal holes. To investigate whether this possibility might be realized and fast-mode waves might play a significant role in driving high-speed streams, a parameter study is carried out to examine the propagation and damping of fast-mode waves in various coronal hole models. This study indicates a broad range of coronal hole parameters for which fast-mode waves can play such a role and emphasizes the need for an improved knowledge of large-scale coronal magnetic structure, which is required before any firm conclusions can be drawn.

Fla, T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Spectral analysis of magnetohydrodynamic fluctuations near interplanetary shocks

Preliminary results of an investigation of magnetic fluctuations seen upstream of two interplanetary shocks are presented. The spectral analysis includes calculation of the normalized reduced magnetic helicity spectrum, the normalized reduced cross-helicity spectrum, and the Alfven ratio as discussed by Matthaeus and Goldstein (1982). Minimum variance methods are used to compute wave polarization as a function of frequency. The Taylor 'frozen in flow' hypothesis is assumed to convert frequencies to wave vectors. Some of the basic properties of the waves, including the probable mode of propagation in association with both quasi-parallel forward and reverse shocks, are described. A comparison with previous results on the generation of waves at interplanetary and planetary shocks is presented.

Vinas, A. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Numerical study of two-dimensional non-plane MHD wave propagation in a supersonic, superalfvenic magnetohydrodynamic flow

The features of a 2.5-dimensional time-dependent MHD numerical code used to simulate the propagation of finite amplitude MHD waves through an inhomogeneous, supersonic superalfvenic medium are described. Basic equations for conservation of mass, momentum, and free energy in a unit volume plasma gas and for magnetic induction are defined. Initial conditions are functions of the radial coordinates and disturbances are introduced at the lower boundary. A set of finite difference equations based on a Lax-Wendroff scheme is used for the simulation. The model is applied to analyzing a solar flare shock wave in steady-state and global transient conditions while propagating at 1 AU heliolongitude.

Han, S. M.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A full-implicit-continuous-Eulerian (FICE) scheme for multidimensional transient magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows

A full implicit continuous Eulerian (FICE) scheme is developed for solving multidimensional transient MHD flow problems. The physical system under consideration is a general case of a transient MHD flow in which an initial steady state is subject to a finite amplitude disturbance. The governing equations are described, their finite difference formulation is presented and the FICE algorithm is given. The boundary conditions are treated by classifying them into physical and computational ones. The usefulness of the FICE algorithm is demonstrated using a physical example concerning the dynamical response of the static solar atmosphere due to a representative photospheric disturbance.

Wu, S. T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Radial variations of large-scale magnetohydrodynamic fluctuations in the solar wind

Two time periods are studied for which comprehensive data coverage is available at both 1 AU using IMP-8 and ISEE-3 and beyond using Voyager 1. One of these periods is characterized by the predominance of corotating stream interactions. Relatively small scale transient flows characterize the second period. The evolution of these flows with heliocentric distance is studied using power spectral techniques. The evolution of the transient dominated period is consistent with the hypothesis of turbulent evolution including an inverse cascade of large scales. The evolution of the corotating period is consistent with the entrainment of slow streams by faster streams in a deterministic model.

Burlaga, L. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Magnetohydrodynamic model of Crab nebula radiation

The properties of the synchrotron continuum are calculated on the basis of a steady spherically symmetric MHD model of the flow in the Crab nebula. The model accounts for the spectral distribution of the continuum from the optical to gamma-rays, and semiquantitatively for its observed spatial distribution. The model does not account for the radio portion of the Crab nebula's spectrum.

Kennel, C. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Particle-acceleration by turbulent magnetohydrodynamic reconnection

Test particles in a two dimensional, turbulent MHD simulation are found to undergo significant acceleration. The magnetic field configuration is a periodic sheet pinch which undergoes reconnection. The test particles are trapped in the reconnection region for times of order an Alfven transit time in the large electric fields that characterize the turbulent reconnection process at the relatively large magnetic Reynolds number used in the simulation. The maximum speed attained by these particles is consistent with an analytic estimate which depends on the reconnection electric field, the Alfven speed, and the ratio of Larmor period to the Alfven transit time.

Matthaeus, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the bifurcation of tail lobes during intervals with a northward interplanetary magnetic field

The interaction of the solar wind with the earth's magnetosphere during a northward interplanetary magnetic field was studied by using a three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic model. For a northward interplanetary magnetic field on 5 nT, the plasma sheet thickens near the noon-midnight meridian plane. When projected onto the polar cap this appears as a narrow channel extending from midnight towards noon. This plasma pattern is associated with three pairs of convection cells. The high latitude sunward convection and northern B(z) Birkeland current are caused by magnetic merging in the polar region.

Ogino, T.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Magnetohydrodynamic thermal instabilities in cool inhomogeneous atmospheres

The stability of magnetic loops to current-driven filamentation instabilities is investigated. The unperturbed atmosphere is assumed to be composed of an (upper) isothermal optically thin low-density portion and a (lower) higher-density portion which is in radiative equilibrium; in both cases, the atmosphere is in hydrostatic equilibrium, so that gravitational stratification is taken into account. In order to provide specific equilibrium conditions for evaluation of the dispersion relation, conditions appropriate for the surface of a solar-type star are adopted; i.e., a fairly low temperature (T = 5000 K) appropriate for a 'precoronal' state associated, for example, with magnetic flux emerging from photospheric levels under the action of magnetic buoyancy. A linear stability analysis is performed, and numerical results show that physically plausible current densities, which would be generated by typical loop-footpoint motions, are effective in driving MHD instabilities in such a plasma. The instability growth rates are strongly dependent on the assumed current density distribution and on the density scale height.

Bodo, G.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Stellar fibril magnetic systems. II - Two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic equations. III - Convective counterflow

The dynamics of magnetic fibrils in the convective zone of a star is investigated analytically, deriving mean-field equations for the two-dimensional transverse motion of an incompressible fluid containing numerous small widely spaced circular cylinders. The equations of Parker (1982) are extended to account for the inertial effects of local flow around the cylinders. The linear field equation for the stream function at the onset of convection is then rewritten, neglecting large-scale heat transport, and used to construct a model of convective counterflow. The Kelvin impulse and fluid momentum, convective motion initiated by a horizontal impulse, and the effects of a viscous boundary layer are considered in appendices.

Parker, E. N.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The magnetohydrodynamics of current sheets

Examples of current sheets are summarized and their formation is described. A universal phenomenon in cosmic plasmas is the creation of sheets off intense current near X-type neutral points (where the magnetic field vanishes). These sheets are important as sites where the magnetic-field energy is converted efficiently into heat and bulk kinetic energy and where particles can be accelerated to high energies. Examples include disruptions in laboratory tokamaks, substorms in the earth's magnetosphere, and flares on the sun. The basic behavior of a one-dimensional sheet is presented, together with an account of the linear tearing-mode instability that can cause the field lines in such a sheet to reconnect. Such reconnection may develop in different ways: it may arise from a spontaneous instability or it may be driven, either from outside by motions or locally by a resistivity enhancement. Various processes are described that may occur during the nonlinear development of tearing, along with the many numerical and laboratory experiments that are aiding our understanding of this intriguing cosmical process.

Priest, E. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Forced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in a uniform external magnetic field

Two-dimensional dissipative MHD turbulence is randomly driven at small spatial scales and is studied by numerical simulation in the presence of a strong uniform external magnetic field. A behavior is observed which is apparently distinct from the inverse cascade which prevails in the absence of an external magnetic field. The magnetic spectrum becomes dominated by the three longest wavelength Alfven waves in the system allowed by the boundary conditions: those which, in a box size of edge 2 pi, have wave numbers (kx, ky) = (1, 1), and (1, -1), where the external magnetic field is in the x direction. At any given instant, one of these three modes dominates the vector potential spectrum, but they do not constitute a resonantly coupled triad. Rather, they are apparently coupled by the smaller-scale turbulence.

Hossain, M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The stability of dissipative magnetohydrodynamic shear flow in a parallel magnetic field

The linear stability properties of dissipative field-aligned shear flow are described analytically. The results are used to calculate the decay bounds of linearized perturbations occurring in unbounded planes of Couette flow in a parallel magnetic field. It is shown that the perturbations associated with small-amplitude localized disturbances may take the form of rolls along the shear, and exhibit ordinary potential decay, while misaligned perturbations exhibit enhanced decay in the presence of dissipation. A decay criterion is established for MHD shear flow in an accretion disk on the basis of the analytical results.

Lerner, J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Principles of magnetohydrodynamic simulation in space plasmas

Attention is given to the philosophical as well as physical principles that are essential to the establishment of MHD simulation studies for solar plasma research, assuming the capabilities of state-of-the-art computers and emphasizing the importance of 'local' MHD simulation. Solar-terrestrial plasma space is divided into several elementary regions where a macroscopic elementary energy conversion process could conceivably occur; the local MHD simulation is defined as self-contained in each of the regions. The importance of, and the difficulties associated with, the boundary condition are discussed in detail. The roles of diagnostics and of the finite difference method are noted.

Sato, T.↗

NASA NTRS1985

On magnetohydrodynamic thermal instabilities in magnetic flux tubes

The stability of current-driven filamentary modes in magnetic flux tubes embedded in a plane-parallel atmosphere in LTE and in hydrostatic equilibrium is discussed. Within the tube, energy transport by radiation only is considered. The dominant contribution to the opacity is due to H- ions and H atoms (in the Paschen continuum). A region in the parameter space of the equilibrium configuration in which the instability is effective is delimited, and the relevance of this process for the formation of structured coronae in late-type stars and accretion disks is discussed.

Massaglia, S.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The alpha dynamo parameter and measurability of helicities in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Alpha, an important parameter in dynamo theory, is shown to be proportional to either the kinetic, current, magnetic, or velocity helicities of the fluctuating magnetic field and fluctuating velocity field. The particular helicity to which alpha is proportional depends on the assumptions used in deriving the first-order smoothed equations that describe the alpha effect. In two cases, viz., when alpha is proportional to either the magnetic helicity or velocity helicity, alpha can be determined experimentally from two-point measurements of the fluctuating fields in incompressible, homogeneous turbulence with arbitrary rotational symmetry. For the other two possibilities, alpha can be determined if the turbulence is isotropic.

Matthaeus, W. H.↗