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Statistical description of coalescing magnetic islands via magnetic reconnection

Part of: Focus on Plasma Astrophysics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 December 2021

Muni Zhou Open the ORCID record for Muni Zhou [Opens in a new window] ,
David H. Wu Open the ORCID record for David H. Wu [Opens in a new window] ,
Nuno F. Loureiro Open the ORCID record for Nuno F. Loureiro [Opens in a new window]  and
Dmitri A. Uzdensky Open the ORCID record for Dmitri A. Uzdensky [Opens in a new window]
Muni Zhou*
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
David H. Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Nuno F. Loureiro
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Dmitri A. Uzdensky
Affiliation:
Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, Physics Department, UCB-390, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: munizhou@mit.edu
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Abstract

The physical picture of interacting magnetic islands provides a useful paradigm for certain plasma dynamics in a variety of physical environments, such as the solar corona, the heliosheath and the Earth's magnetosphere. In this work, we derive an island kinetic equation to describe the evolution of the island distribution function (in area and in flux of islands) subject to a collisional integral designed to account for the role of magnetic reconnection during island mergers. This equation is used to study the inverse transfer of magnetic energy through the coalescence of magnetic islands in two dimensions. We solve our island kinetic equation numerically for three different types of initial distribution: Dirac delta, Gaussian and power-law distributions. The time evolution of several key quantities is found to agree well with our analytical predictions: magnetic energy decays as $\tilde {t}^{-1}$, the number of islands decreases as $\tilde {t}^{-1}$ and the averaged area of islands grows as $\tilde {t}$, where $\tilde {t}$ is the time normalised to the characteristic reconnection time scale of islands. General properties of the distribution function and the magnetic energy spectrum are also studied. Finally, we discuss the underlying connection of our island-merger models to the (self-similar) decay of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasspace plasma physicsplasma nonlinear phenomena
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 87 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , 905870620
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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