Ideal Magnetohydrodynamic Equations Research Articles

Spectroscopic observations and modelling of impulsive Alfvén waves along a polar coronal jet

Using the Hinode/EIS 2$"$ spectroscopic observations, we study the intensity, velocity, and FWHM variations of the strongest Fe XII 195.12 \AA\ line along the jet to find the signature of Alfv\'en waves. We simulate numerically the impulsively generated Alfv\'en waves within the vertical Harris current-sheet, forming the jet plasma flows, and mimicking their observational signatures. Using the FLASH code and the atmospheric model with embedded weakly expanding magnetic field configuration within a vertical Harris current-sheet, we solve the two and half-dimensional (2.5-D) ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations to study the evolution of Alfv\'en waves and vertical flows forming the plasma jet. At a height of $\sim 5~\mathrm{Mm}$ from the base of the jet, the red-shifted velocity component of Fe XII 195.12 \AA\ line attains its maximum ($5~\mathrm{km\,s}^{-1}$) which converts into a blue-shifted one between the altitude of $5-10~\mathrm{Mm}$. The spectral intensity continously increases up to $10~\mathrm{Mm}$, while FWHM still exhibits the low values with almost constant trend. This indicates that the reconnection point within the jet's magnetic field topology lies in the corona $5-10~\mathrm{Mm}$ from its footpoint anchored in the Sun's surface. Beyond this height, FWHM shows a growing trend. This may be the signature of Alfv\'en waves that impulsively evolve due to reconnection and propagate along the jet. From our numerical data, we evaluate space- and time- averaged Alfv\'en waves velocity amplitudes at different heights in the jet's current-sheet, which contribute to the non-thermal motions and spectral line broadening. The synthetic width of Fe XII $195.12~\mathrm{\AA}$ line exhibits similar trend of increment as in the observational data, possibly proving the existence of impulsively generated (by reconnection) Alfv\'en waves which propagate along the jet.

Standing kink oscillations of thin twisted magnetic tubes with continuous equilibrium magnetic field

In this article we study standing kink waves in twisted magnetic tubes. We use the cold plasma and thin tube approximation. We assume that the plasma density is constant inside and outside the tube. We also assume that the magnetic twist is weak and take the ratio of the azimuthal and axial component of the magnetic field to be of the order of ratio of the tube radius and tube length. The azimuthal component of the magnetic field is proportional to the distance from the tube axis inside the tube, and inversely proportional to this distance outside the tube. Using the method of asymptotic expansions we derived the governing integral equation that determines the eigenfrequencies and eigenmodes of the tube kink oscillations. In the approximation of a very weak twist, we calculated analytically the corrections to the frequencies of the fundamental mode and first overtone of a straight magnetic tube related to the presence of twist. The analytical results are compared with the numerical results obtained using the full set of linear ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. We also calculated the ratio of frequencies of the fist overtone and fundamental mode. We found that the magnetic twist enhances this ratio for moderate values of the density ratio, and reduces this ratio for large values of the density ratio. In general, the deviation of the frequency ratio from 2 caused by the magnetic twist is comparable to that found in simultaneous observations of the fundamental mode and first overtone of the coronal loop kink oscillations. Finally, we studied the eigenmode polarization. We found that, in a particular case of linear polarization, the polarization direction rotates along the tube.

Divergence-free approximate Riemann solver for the quasi-neutral two-fluid plasma model

A numerical method for the quasi-neutral two-fluid (QNTF) plasma model is described. The basic equations are ion and electron fluid equations and the Maxwell equations without displacement current. The neglect of displacement current is consistent with the assumption of charge neutrality. Therefore, Langmuir waves and electromagnetic waves are eliminated from the system, which is in clear contrast to the fully electromagnetic two-fluid model. It thus reduces to the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in the long wavelength limit, but the two-fluid effect appearing at ion and electron inertial scales is fully taken into account. It is shown that the basic equations may be rewritten in a form that has formally the same structure as the MHD equations. The total mass, momentum, and energy are all written in the conservative form. A new three-dimensional numerical simulation code has been developed for the QNTF equations. The HLL (Harten–Lax–van Leer) approximate Riemann solver combined with the upwind constrained transport (UCT) scheme is applied. The method was originally developed for MHD [25], but works quite well for the present model as well. The simulation code is able to capture sharp multidimensional discontinuities as well as dispersive waves arising from the two-fluid effect at small scales without producing ∇⋅B errors. It is well known that conventional Hall-MHD codes often suffer a numerical stability issue associated with short wavelength whistler waves. On the other hand, since finite electron inertia introduces an upper bound to the phase speed of whistler waves in the present model, our code is free from the issue even without explicit dissipation terms or implicit time integration. Numerical experiments have confirmed that there is no need to resolve characteristic time scales such as plasma frequency or cyclotron frequency for numerical stability. Consequently, the QNTF model offers a better alternative to the Hall-MHD or fully electromagnetic two-fluid models.

Interchange mode excited by trapped energetic ions

The kinetic energy principle describing the interaction between ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes with trapped energetic ions is revised. A model is proposed on the basis of the reduced ideal MHD equations for background plasmas and the bounce-averaged drift-kinetic equation for trapped energetic ions. The model is applicable to large-aspect-ratio toroidal devices. Specifically, the effect of trapped energetic ions on the interchange mode in helical systems is analyzed. Results show that the interchange mode is excited by trapped energetic ions, even if the equilibrium states are stable to the ideal interchange mode. The energetic-ion-induced branch of the interchange mode might be associated with the fishbone mode in helical systems.

CAFE: A NEW RELATIVISTIC MHD CODE

We introduce CAFE, a new independent code designed to solve the equations of Relativistic ideal Magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) in 3D. We present the standard tests for a RMHD code and for the Relativistic Hydrodynamics (RHD) regime since we have not reported them before. The tests include the 1D Riemann problems related to blast waves, head-on collision of streams and states with transverse velocities, with and without magnetic field, which is aligned or transverse, constant or discontinuous across the initial discontinuity. Among the 2D and 3D tests, without magnetic field we include the 2D Riemann problem, a one dimensional shock tube along a diagonal, the high speed Emery wind tunnel, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, a set of jets and a 3D spherical blast wave, whereas in the presence of a magnetic field we show the magnetic rotor, the cylindrical explosion, a case of Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and a 3D magnetic field advection loop. The code uses High Resolution Shock Capturing methods and we present the error analysis for a combination that uses the HLLE flux formula combined with linear, PPM and fifth order WENO reconstructors. We use the flux-CT and the divergence cleaning methods to control the divergence free magnetic field constraint.

On axially symmetric incompressible magnetohydrodynamics in three dimensions

In the short article we study the ideal incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations in three dimensions in which the Faraday law is inviscid. We prove the global well-posedness of classical solutions for a family of special axisymmetric initial data whose swirl components of the velocity field and magnetic vorticity field are trivial.

On the ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations

In this paper, we consider the short time strong solutions to the ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamic equations with initial vacuum, where the velocity field satisfies the Navier-slip condition. Inspired by Kato and Lax's idea, we use the contraction mapping argument to prove the local existence. Moreover, under the Navier-slip condition, we establish a criterion for possible breakdown of such solutions at finite time in terms of the temporal integral of L∞ norm of the deformation tensor D(u).

On well-posedness of the plasma-vacuum interface problem: the case of non-elliptic interface symbol

We consider the plasma-vacuum interface problem in a classical statement when in the plasma region the flow is governed by the equations of ideal compressible magnetohydrodynamics, while in the vacuum region the magnetic field obeys the div-curl system of pre-Maxwell dynamics. The local-in-time existence and uniqueness of the solution to this problem in suitable anisotropic Sobolev spaces was proved in [17], provided that at each point of the initial interface the plasma density is strictly positive and the magnetic fields on either side of the interface are not collinear. The non-collinearity condition appears as the requirement that the symbol associated to the interface is elliptic. We now consider the case when this symbol is not elliptic and study the linearized problem, provided that the unperturbed plasma and vacuum non-zero magnetic fields are collinear on the interface. We prove a basic a priori $L^2$ estimate for this problem under the (generalized) Rayleigh-Taylor sign condition $[\partial q/\partial N]<0$ on the jump of the normal derivative of the unperturbed total pressure satisfied at each point of the interface. By constructing an Hadamard-type ill-posedness example for the frozen coefficients linearized problem we show that the simultaneous failure of the non-collinearity condition and the Rayleigh-Taylor sign condition leads to Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

An extension of AUFSR scheme for the ideal magnetohydrodynamics equations

This paper presents an extension of AUFSR solver for the analysis of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) flows. The proposed approach is derived from the previous studies presented for solving Euler equations (Tchuen et al., 2011, 2014). The AUFSR scheme is obtained by combining two upwind numerical schemes: AUFS scheme and Roe scheme. The scheme introduces two artificial waves speeds and takes into account all MHD waves such as slow, fast, Alfven and entropy waves into the flux decomposition. The direction of wave propagation is adjusted by two waves speeds. Numerical tests in one and two-dimensions in ideal-MHD problems are given to show the efficiency and robustness of AUFSR solver for solving contact and rotational discontinuities, fast, slow and rarefaction shock waves. Each of the pieces of the scheme is described, and the scheme is validated and its accuracy assessed by comparison with exact Riemann solutions, results for schemes HLL, HLLD and Roe.

Nonlinear closures for scale separation in supersonic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

Turbulence in compressible plasma plays a key role in many areas of astrophysics and engineering. The extreme plasma parameters in these environments, e.g. high Reynolds numbers, supersonic and super-Alfvenic flows, however, make direct numerical simulations computationally intractable even for the simplest treatment—magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). To overcome this problem one can use subgrid-scale (SGS) closures—models for the influence of unresolved, subgrid-scales on the resolved ones. In this work we propose and validate a set of constant coefficient closures for the resolved, compressible, ideal MHD equations. The SGS energies are modeled by Smagorinsky-like equilibrium closures. The turbulent stresses and the electromotive force (EMF) are described by expressions that are nonlinear in terms of large scale velocity and magnetic field gradients. To verify the closures we conduct a priori tests over 137 simulation snapshots from two different codes with varying ratios of thermal to magnetic pressure () and sonic Mach numbers (). Furthermore, we make a comparison to traditional, phenomenological eddy-viscosity and closures. We find only mediocre performance of the kinetic eddy-viscosity and closures, and that the magnetic eddy-viscosity closure is poorly correlated with the simulation data. Moreover, three of five coefficients of the traditional closures exhibit a significant spread in values. In contrast, our new closures demonstrate consistently high correlations and constant coefficient values over time and over the wide range of parameters tested. Important aspects in compressible MHD turbulence such as the bi-directional energy cascade, turbulent magnetic pressure and proper alignment of the EMF are well described by our new closures.

MORPHOLOGY AND DYNAMICS OF SOLAR PROMINENCES FROM 3D MHD SIMULATIONS

In this paper we present a numerical study of the time evolution of solar prominences embedded in sheared magnetic arcades. The prominence is represented by a density enhancement in a background stratified atmosphere and is connected to the photosphere through the magnetic field. By solving the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in three dimensions we study the dynamics for a range of parameters representative of real prominences. Depending on the parameters considered, we find prominences that are suspended above the photosphere, i.e., detached prominences, but also configurations resembling curtain or hedgerow prominences whose material continuously connects to the photosphere. The plasma$-\beta$ is an important parameter that determines the shape of the structure. In many cases magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (MRT) instabilities and oscillatory phenomena develop. Fingers and plumes are generated, affecting the whole prominence body and producing vertical structures in an essentially horizontal magnetic field. However, magnetic shear is able to reduce or even to suppress this instability.

Positivity-Preserving Finite Difference Weighted ENO Schemes with Constrained Transport for Ideal Magnetohydrodynamic Equations

In this paper, we utilize the maximum-principle-preserving flux limiting technique, originally designed for high-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory (WENO) methods for scalar hyperbolic conservation laws, to develop a class of high-order positivity-preserving finite difference WENO methods for the ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations. Our scheme, under the constrained transport framework, can achieve high-order accuracy, a discrete divergence-free condition, and positivity of the numerical solution simultaneously. Numerical examples in one, two, and three dimensions are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.

On the Yudovich solutions for the ideal MHD equations

In this paper, we address the problem of weak solutions of Yudovich type for the inviscid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in two dimensions. The local-in-time existence and uniqueness of these solutions sound to be hard to achieve due to some terms involving Riesz transforms in the vorticity–current formulation. We shall prove that the vortex patches with smooth boundary offer a suitable class of initial data for which the problem can be solved. However, this is only done under a geometric constraint by assuming the boundary of the initial vorticity to be frozen in a magnetic field line.We shall also discuss the stationary patches for the incompressible Euler system (E) and the MHD system. For example, we prove that a stationary simply connected patch with rectifiable boundary for the system (E) is necessarily the characteristic function of a disc.

Multidimensional Riemann problem with self-similar internal structure. Part II – Application to hyperbolic conservation laws on unstructured meshes

Multidimensional Riemann solvers that have internal sub-structure in the strongly-interacting state have been formulated recently (D.S. Balsara (2012, 2014) [5,16]). Any multidimensional Riemann solver operates at the grid vertices and takes as its input all the states from its surrounding elements. It yields as its output an approximation of the strongly interacting state, as well as the numerical fluxes. The multidimensional Riemann problem produces a self-similar strongly-interacting state which is the result of several one-dimensional Riemann problems interacting with each other. To compute this strongly interacting state and its higher order moments we propose the use of a Galerkin-type formulation to compute the strongly interacting state and its higher order moments in terms of similarity variables. The use of substructure in the Riemann problem reduces numerical dissipation and, therefore, allows a better preservation of flow structures, like contact and shear waves. In this second part of a series of papers we describe how this technique is extended to unstructured triangular meshes. All necessary details for a practical computer code implementation are discussed. In particular, we explicitly present all the issues related to computational geometry. Because these Riemann solvers are Multidimensional and have Self-similar strongly-Interacting states that are obtained by Consistency with the conservation law, we call them MuSIC Riemann solvers. (A video introduction to multidimensional Riemann solvers is available on http://www.nd.edu/~dbalsara/Numerical-PDE-Course.)The MuSIC framework is sufficiently general to handle general nonlinear systems of hyperbolic conservation laws in multiple space dimensions. It can also accommodate all self-similar one-dimensional Riemann solvers and subsequently produces a multidimensional version of the same. In this paper we focus on unstructured triangular meshes. As examples of different systems of conservation laws we consider the Euler equations of compressible gas dynamics as well as the equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Several stringent test problems are solved for both PDE systems.

A simple two-dimensional extension of the HLL Riemann solver for hyperbolic systems of conservation laws

We derive a simple method to numerically approximate the solution of the two-dimensional Riemann problem for gas dynamics, using the literal extension of the well-known HLL formalism as its basis. Essentially, any strategy attempting to extend the three-state HLL Riemann solver to multiple space dimensions will by some means involve a piecewise constant approximation of the complex two-dimensional interaction of waves, and our numerical scheme is not the exception. In order to determine closed form expressions for the involved fluxes, we rely on the equivalence between the consistency condition and the use of Rankine–Hugoniot conditions that hold across the outermost waves. The proposed scheme is carefully designed to simplify its eventual numerical implementation and its advantages are analytically attested. In addition, we show that the proposed solver can be applied to obtain the edge-centered electric fields needed in the constrained transport technique for the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. We present several numerical results for hydrodynamics and magnetohydrodynamics that display the scheme's accuracy and its ability to be applied to various systems of conservation laws.

A New Family of High Order Unstructured MOOD and ADER Finite Volume Schemes for Multidimensional Systems of Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the coupling of the Multi-dimensional Optimal Order Detection (MOOD) method and the Arbitrary high order DERivatives (ADER) approach in order to design a new high order accurate, robust and computationally efficient Finite Volume (FV) scheme dedicated to solve nonlinear systems of hyperbolic conservation laws on unstructured triangular and tetrahedral meshes in two and three space dimensions, respectively. The Multi-dimensional Optimal Order Detection (MOOD) method for 2D and 3D geometries has been introduced in a recent series of papers for mixed unstructured meshes. It is an arbitrary high-order accurate Finite Volume scheme in space, using polynomial reconstructions witha posterioridetection and polynomial degree decrementing processes to deal with shock waves and other discontinuities. In the following work, the time discretization is performed with an elegant and efficient one-step ADER procedure. Doing so, we retain the good properties of the MOOD scheme, that is to say the optimal high-order of accuracy is reached on smooth solutions, while spurious oscillations near singularities are prevented. The ADER technique permits not only to reduce the cost of the overall scheme as shown on a set of numerical tests in 2D and 3D, but it also increases the stability of the overall scheme. A systematic comparison between classical unstructured ADER-WENO schemes and the new ADER-MOOD approach has been carried out for high-order schemes in space and time in terms of cost, robustness, accuracy and efficiency. The main finding of this paper is that the combination of ADER with MOOD generally outperforms the one of ADER and WENO either because at given accuracy MOOD is less expensive (memory and/or CPU time), or because it is more accurate for a given grid resolution. A large suite of classical numerical test problems has been solved on unstructured meshes for three challenging multi-dimensional systems of conservation laws: the Euler equations of compressible gas dynamics, the classical equations of ideal magneto-Hydrodynamics (MHD) and finally the relativistic MHD equations (RMHD), which constitutes a particularly challenging nonlinear system of hyperbolic partial differential equation. All tests are run on genuinely unstructured grids composed of simplex elements.

A direct Arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian ADER-WENO finite volume scheme on unstructured tetrahedral meshes for conservative and non-conservative hyperbolic systems in 3D

In this paper we present a new family of high order accurate Arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) one-step ADER-WENO finite volume schemes for the solution of nonlinear systems of conservative and non-conservative hyperbolic partial differential equations with stiff source terms on moving tetrahedral meshes in three space dimensions. A WENO reconstruction technique is used to achieve high order of accuracy in space, while an element-local space–time Discontinuous Galerkin finite element predictor on moving curved meshes is used to obtain a high order accurate one-step time discretization. Within the space–time predictor the physical element is mapped onto a reference element using a high order isoparametric approach, where the space–time basis and test functions are given by the Lagrange interpolation polynomials passing through a predefined set of space–time nodes. Since our algorithm is cell-centered, the final mesh motion is computed by using a suitable node solver algorithm. A rezoning step as well as a flattener strategy are used in some of the test problems to avoid mesh tangling or excessive element deformations that may occur when the computation involves strong shocks or shear waves. The ALE algorithm presented in this article belongs to the so-called direct ALE methods because the final Lagrangian finite volume scheme is based directly on a space–time conservation formulation of the governing PDE system, with the rezoned geometry taken already into account during the computation of the fluxes.We apply our new high order unstructured ALE schemes to the 3D Euler equations of compressible gas dynamics, for which a set of classical numerical test problems has been solved and for which convergence rates up to sixth order of accuracy in space and time have been obtained. We furthermore consider the equations of classical ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) as well as the non-conservative seven-equation Baer–Nunziato model of compressible multi-phase flows with stiff relaxation source terms.

Numerical simulations of three-dimensional magnetic swirls in a solar flux-tube

We aim to numerically study evolution of Alfvén waves that accompany short-lasting swirl events in a solar magnetic flux-tube that can be a simple model of a magnetic pore or a sunspot. With the use of the FLASH code we numerically solve three-dimensional ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations to simulate twists which are implemented at the top of the photosphere in magnetic field lines of the flux-tube. Our numerical results exhibit swirl events and Alfvén waves with associated clockwise and counterclockwise rotation of magnetic lines, with the largest values of vorticity at the bottom of the chromosphere, and a certain amount of energy flux.

A constrained transport scheme for MHD on unstructured static and moving meshes

Magnetic fields play an important role in many astrophysical systems and a detailed understanding of their impact on the gas dynamics requires robust numerical simulations. Here we present a new method to evolve the ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations on unstructured static and moving meshes that preserves the magnetic field divergence-free constraint to machine precision. The method overcomes the major problems of using a cleaning scheme on the magnetic fields instead, which is non-conservative, not fully Galilean invariant, does not eliminate divergence errors completely, and may produce incorrect jumps across shocks. Our new method is a generalization of the constrained transport (CT) algorithm used to enforce the $\nabla\cdot \mathbf{B}=0$ condition on fixed Cartesian grids. Preserving $\nabla\cdot \mathbf{B}=0$ at the discretized level is necessary to maintain the orthogonality between the Lorentz force and $\mathbf{B}$. The possibility of performing CT on a moving mesh provides several advantages over static mesh methods due to the quasi-Lagrangian nature of the former (i.e., the mesh generating points move with the flow), such as making the simulation automatically adaptive and significantly reducing advection errors. Our method preserves magnetic fields and fluid quantities in pure advection exactly.

Perturbation analysis of electromagnetic geodesic acoustic modes

Lagrangian displacement and magnetic field perturbation response to the geodesic acoustic mode is analyzed by using the ideal magnetohydrodynamic equations in a large-aspect-ratio tokamak. δBθ, the poloidal component of magnetic field perturbation, has poloidal wave number m = 2 created by the poloidal displacement ξθ. The parallel perturbation of magnetic field, δB∥, has a poloidally asymmetric structure with m = 1 and is on the same order of magnitude with δBθ to the leading order. The radial displacement ξr is of order O(βϵξθ) but plays a significant role in determining δB∥, where β is the plasma/magnetic pressure ratio and ϵ is the inverse aspect ratio.