Relation of plasma flow structures to passive particle tracer orbits

Abstract

The properties of plasma flow topological structures are compared with those of passive tracer particles within a framework of the continuous random walk (CTRW) approach. Vortices may cause some of the trapping of particles, while large scale flows may carry them from vortex to vortex. The results indicate that most of the trappings that are completed during the calculation correspond to tracers trapped on broken filaments, including possible multiple trappings. The probability distribution function of the trapping times is then a function of the filament length, and has a lognormal character, like the distribution of filament lengths.