A comparison of the turbulent dynamo in weakly-collisional and collisional plasmas: from subsonic to supersonic turbulence
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866929703397359616 |
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| author | Chirakkara, Radhika Achikanath Federrath, Christoph Seta, Amit |
| author_facet | Chirakkara, Radhika Achikanath Federrath, Christoph Seta, Amit |
| contents | Weakly-collisional plasmas, such as the solar wind or the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters, evolve in the presence of dynamically strong magnetic fields. The turbulent dynamo can amplify magnetic fields to such levels by converting turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy. While extensively studied in collisional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, the weakly-collisional regime has only been explored recently. Here, we determine the properties of the weakly-collisional turbulent dynamo in the exponential ``kinematic" growth phase in both the subsonic and the previously unexplored supersonic regime of turbulence, using hybrid particle-in-cell (HPIC) and MHD simulations. We conduct a large parameter study, fixing the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm = 500, and the initial ratio of the magnetic to kinetic energy, $(E_{\rm{mag}}/E_{\rm{kin}})_{0} = 10^{-10}$, and then vary the kinetic Reynolds number, Re = 500, 50, and 5, for the MHD simulations. In the HPIC runs, only Rm = 500 is controlled, while Re emerges self-consistently from wave-particle interactions. We find that the velocity and magnetic field structures, probability distribution functions, and power spectra of the HPIC runs are similar to that of the MHD dynamo with Re ~ 50-500 and Re ~ 500 in the subsonic and supersonic regimes, respectively. Using MHD scaling relations, we infer $\text{Re}_{\rm inferred}=480^{+170}_{-250}$ and $690^{+360}_{-360}$ in the subsonic and supersonic weakly-collisional plasma, respectively. Overall, we find that the turbulent dynamo shares similar physical properties in both weakly-collisional and collisional plasmas. Our results of the weakly-collisional turbulent dynamo may have relevant applications to the solar wind, weakly-collisional shocks, and the hot ICM. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_05235 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | A comparison of the turbulent dynamo in weakly-collisional and collisional plasmas: from subsonic to supersonic turbulence Chirakkara, Radhika Achikanath Federrath, Christoph Seta, Amit Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics Plasma Physics Weakly-collisional plasmas, such as the solar wind or the intra-cluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters, evolve in the presence of dynamically strong magnetic fields. The turbulent dynamo can amplify magnetic fields to such levels by converting turbulent kinetic energy into magnetic energy. While extensively studied in collisional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, the weakly-collisional regime has only been explored recently. Here, we determine the properties of the weakly-collisional turbulent dynamo in the exponential ``kinematic" growth phase in both the subsonic and the previously unexplored supersonic regime of turbulence, using hybrid particle-in-cell (HPIC) and MHD simulations. We conduct a large parameter study, fixing the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm = 500, and the initial ratio of the magnetic to kinetic energy, $(E_{\rm{mag}}/E_{\rm{kin}})_{0} = 10^{-10}$, and then vary the kinetic Reynolds number, Re = 500, 50, and 5, for the MHD simulations. In the HPIC runs, only Rm = 500 is controlled, while Re emerges self-consistently from wave-particle interactions. We find that the velocity and magnetic field structures, probability distribution functions, and power spectra of the HPIC runs are similar to that of the MHD dynamo with Re ~ 50-500 and Re ~ 500 in the subsonic and supersonic regimes, respectively. Using MHD scaling relations, we infer $\text{Re}_{\rm inferred}=480^{+170}_{-250}$ and $690^{+360}_{-360}$ in the subsonic and supersonic weakly-collisional plasma, respectively. Overall, we find that the turbulent dynamo shares similar physical properties in both weakly-collisional and collisional plasmas. Our results of the weakly-collisional turbulent dynamo may have relevant applications to the solar wind, weakly-collisional shocks, and the hot ICM. |
| title | A comparison of the turbulent dynamo in weakly-collisional and collisional plasmas: from subsonic to supersonic turbulence |
| topic | Astrophysics of Galaxies Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics Plasma Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.05235 |