Effect of a guide field on the turbulence like properties of magnetic reconnection
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The effect of an external guide field on the turbulence-like properties of magnetic
reconnection is studied using five different 2.5D kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The magnetic energy spectrum is found to exhibit a slope of approximately
−5/3 in the inertial range, independent of the guide field. On the contrary, the
electric field spectrum, in the inertial range steepens more with the guide field and
approaches a slope of −5/3. In addition, spectral analysis of the different terms of
the generalized Ohm’s law is performed and found to be consistent with PIC simulations of turbulence and MMS observations. Finally, the guide field effect on the
energy transfer behavior is examined using von-K´arm´an Howarth (vKH) equation
based on incompressible Hall-MHD. The general characteristics of the vKH equation
with constant rate of energy transfer in the inertial range, is consistent in all the simulations. This suggests that the qualitative behavior of energy spectrum, and energy
transfer in reconnection is similar to that of turbulence, indicating that reconnection
fundamentally involves an energy cascade.
reconnection is studied using five different 2.5D kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The magnetic energy spectrum is found to exhibit a slope of approximately
−5/3 in the inertial range, independent of the guide field. On the contrary, the
electric field spectrum, in the inertial range steepens more with the guide field and
approaches a slope of −5/3. In addition, spectral analysis of the different terms of
the generalized Ohm’s law is performed and found to be consistent with PIC simulations of turbulence and MMS observations. Finally, the guide field effect on the
energy transfer behavior is examined using von-K´arm´an Howarth (vKH) equation
based on incompressible Hall-MHD. The general characteristics of the vKH equation
with constant rate of energy transfer in the inertial range, is consistent in all the simulations. This suggests that the qualitative behavior of energy spectrum, and energy
transfer in reconnection is similar to that of turbulence, indicating that reconnection
fundamentally involves an energy cascade.
Date Issued
2023-08
Date Acceptance
2023-07-12
Citation
Physics of Plasmas, 2023, 30 (8), pp.1-14
ISSN
1070-664X
Publisher
American Institute of Physics
Start Page
1
End Page
14
Journal / Book Title
Physics of Plasmas
Volume
30
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2023 American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in S. Adhikari, M. A. Shay, T. N. Parashar, W. H. Matthaeus, P. S. Pyakurel, J. E. Stawarz, J. P. Eastwood; Effect of a guide field on the turbulence like properties of magnetic reconnection. Physics of Plasmas 1 August 2023; 30 (8): 082904. and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0150929
For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
For the purpose of open access, the authors have applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising.
License URL
Identifier
https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/article/30/8/082904/2906375/Effect-of-a-guide-field-on-the-turbulence-like
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
082904
Date Publish Online
2023-08-09