Journal article
The development of magnetic field line wander in gyrokinetic plasma turbulence: dependence on amplitude of turbulence
Journal of plasma physics, Vol.83(3), 905830301
06/01/2017
DOI: 10.1017/S0022377817000319
Abstract
The dynamics of a turbulent plasma not only manifests the transport of energy from large to small scales, but also can lead to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads through the plasma. The resulting magnetic field line wander can have a large impact on a number of other important processes, such as the propagation of energetic particles through the turbulent plasma. Here we explore the saturation of the turbulent cascade, the development of stochasticity due to turbulent tangling of the magnetic field lines and the separation of field lines through the turbulent dynamics using nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of weakly collisional plasma turbulence, relevant to many turbulent space and astrophysical plasma environments. We determine the characteristic time t(2) for the saturation of the turbulent perpendicular magnetic energy spectrum. We find that the turbulent magnetic field becomes completely stochastic at time t less than or similar to t(2) for strong turbulence, and at t greater than or similar to t2 for weak turbulence. However, when the nonlinearity parameter of the turbulence, a dimensionless measure of the amplitude of the turbulence, reaches a threshold value (within the regime of weak turbulence) the magnetic field stochasticity does not fully develop, at least within the evolution time interval t2 < t <= 13t(2). Finally, we quantify the mean square displacement of magnetic field lines in the turbulent magnetic field with a functional form <(delta r)(2)> = A(z/L-parallel to)(p) (L-parallel to is the correlation length parallel to the magnetic background field B-0, z is the distance along B-0 direction), providing functional forms of the amplitude coefficient A and power-law exponent p as a function of the nonlinearity parameter.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The development of magnetic field line wander in gyrokinetic plasma turbulence: dependence on amplitude of turbulence
- Creators
- Sofiane Bourouaine - University of IowaGregory G. Howes - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of plasma physics, Vol.83(3), 905830301
- Publisher
- Cambridge Univ Press
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0022377817000319
- ISSN
- 0022-3778
- eISSN
- 1469-7807
- Number of pages
- 22
- Grant note
- NNX10AC91G / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) AGS-1054061 / NSF CAREER Award; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Office of the Director (OD) 1054061 / Directorate For Geosciences; National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF - Directorate for Geosciences (GEO)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984428679502771
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