Steady states of the Parker instability

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Tharakkal, Devika, Shukurov, Anvar, Gent, Frederick A., Sarson, Graeme R., Snodin, Andrew P., Rodrigues, Luiz Felippe S.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2022
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author Tharakkal, Devika
Shukurov, Anvar
Gent, Frederick A.
Sarson, Graeme R.
Snodin, Andrew P.
Rodrigues, Luiz Felippe S.
author_facet Tharakkal, Devika
Shukurov, Anvar
Gent, Frederick A.
Sarson, Graeme R.
Snodin, Andrew P.
Rodrigues, Luiz Felippe S.
contents We study the linear properties, nonlinear saturation and a steady, strongly nonlinear state of the Parker instability in galaxies. We consider magnetic buoyancy and its consequences with and without cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are described using the fluid approximation with anisotropic, non-Fickian diffusion. To avoid unphysical constraints on the instability (such as boundary conditions often used to specify an unstable background state), nonideal MHD equations are solved for deviations from a background state representing an unstable magnetohydrostatic equilibrium. We consider isothermal gas and neglect rotation. The linear evolution of the instability is in broad agreement with earlier analytical and numerical models; but we show that most of the simplifying assumptions of the earlier work do not hold, such that they provide only a qualitative rather than quantitative picture. In its nonlinear stage the instability has significantly altered the background state from its initial state. Vertical distributions of both magnetic field and cosmic rays are much wider, the gas layer is thinner, and the energy densities of both magnetic field and cosmic rays are much reduced. The spatial structure of the nonlinear state differs from that of any linear modes. A transient gas outflow is driven by the weakly nonlinear instability as it approaches saturation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2212_03215
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Steady states of the Parker instability
Tharakkal, Devika
Shukurov, Anvar
Gent, Frederick A.
Sarson, Graeme R.
Snodin, Andrew P.
Rodrigues, Luiz Felippe S.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Fluid Dynamics
We study the linear properties, nonlinear saturation and a steady, strongly nonlinear state of the Parker instability in galaxies. We consider magnetic buoyancy and its consequences with and without cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are described using the fluid approximation with anisotropic, non-Fickian diffusion. To avoid unphysical constraints on the instability (such as boundary conditions often used to specify an unstable background state), nonideal MHD equations are solved for deviations from a background state representing an unstable magnetohydrostatic equilibrium. We consider isothermal gas and neglect rotation. The linear evolution of the instability is in broad agreement with earlier analytical and numerical models; but we show that most of the simplifying assumptions of the earlier work do not hold, such that they provide only a qualitative rather than quantitative picture. In its nonlinear stage the instability has significantly altered the background state from its initial state. Vertical distributions of both magnetic field and cosmic rays are much wider, the gas layer is thinner, and the energy densities of both magnetic field and cosmic rays are much reduced. The spatial structure of the nonlinear state differs from that of any linear modes. A transient gas outflow is driven by the weakly nonlinear instability as it approaches saturation.
title Steady states of the Parker instability
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.03215