Transonic Turbulence Research Articles

Transonic Turbulence and Density Fluctuations in the Near-Sun Solar Wind

Abstract We use in situ measurements from the first 19 encounters of Parker Solar Probe and the most recent five encounters of Solar Orbiter to study the evolution of the turbulent sonic Mach number M t (the ratio of the amplitude of velocity fluctuations to the sound speed) with radial distance and its relationship to density fluctuations. We focus on the near-Sun region with radial distances ranging from about 11 to 80 R ⊙. Our results show that (1) the turbulent sonic Mach number M t gradually moves toward larger values as it approaches the Sun, until at least 11 R ⊙, where M t is much larger than the previously observed value of 0.1 at and above 0.3 au; (2) transonic turbulence with M t ∼ 1 is observed in situ for the first time and is found mostly near the Alfvén critical surface; (3) Alfvén Mach number of the bulk flow M A shows a strong correlation with the plasma beta, indicating that most of the observed sub-Alfvénic intervals correspond to a low-beta plasma; (4) the scaling relation between density fluctuations and M t gradually changes from a linear scaling at larger radial distances to a quadratic scaling at smaller radial distances; and (5) transonic turbulence is more compressible than subsonic turbulence, with enhanced density fluctuations and slightly flatter spectra than subsonic turbulence. A systematic understanding of compressible turbulence near the Sun is necessary for future solar wind modeling efforts.

The role of turbulence in high-mass star formation: Subsonic and transonic turbulence are ubiquitously found at early stages

Context. Traditionally, supersonic turbulence is considered to be one of the most likely mechanisms slowing the gravitational collapse in dense clumps, thereby enabling the formation of massive stars. However, several recent studies have raised differing points of view based on observations carried out with sufficiently high spatial and spectral resolution. These studies call for a re-evaluation of the role turbulence plays in massive star-forming regions. Aims. Our aim is to study the gas properties, especially the turbulence, in a sample of massive star-forming regions with sufficient spatial and spectral resolution, which can both resolve the core fragmentation and the thermal line width. Methods. We observed NH3 metastable lines with the Very Large Array (VLA) to assess the intrinsic turbulence. Results. Analysis of the turbulence distribution histogram for 32 identified NH3 cores reveals the presence of three distinct components. Furthermore, our results suggest that (1) sub- and transonic turbulence is a prevalent (21 of 32) feature of massive star-forming regions and those cold regions are at early evolutionary stage. This investigation indicates that turbulence alone is insufficient to provide the necessary internal pressure required for massive star formation, necessitating further exploration of alternative candidates; and (2) studies of seven multi-core systems indicate that the cores within each system mainly share similar gas properties and masses. However, two of the systems are characterized by the presence of exceptionally cold and dense cores that are situated at the spatial center of each system. Our findings support the hub-filament model as an explanation for this observed distribution.

Acceleration and clustering of cosmic dust in a gravoturbulent gas I. Numerical simulation of the nearly Jeans-unstable case

ABSTRACT We investigate the dynamics of interstellar dust particles in moderately high resolution (5123 grid points) simulations of forced compressible transonic turbulence including self-gravity of the gas. Turbulence is induced by stochastic compressive forcing which is delta-correlated in time. By considering the nearly Jeans-unstable case, where the scaling of the simulation is such that a statistical steady state without any irreversible collapses is obtained, we obtain a randomly varying potential, acting as a second stochastic forcing. We show that, in this setting, low-inertia grains follow the gas flow and cluster in much the same way as in a case of statistical steady-state turbulence without self-gravity. Large, high-inertia grains, however, are accelerated to much higher mean velocities in the presence of self-gravity. Grains of intermediate size also show an increased degree of clustering. We conclude that self-gravity effects can play an important role for aggregation/coagulation of dust even in a turbulent system which is not Jeans-unstable. In particular, the collision rate of large grains in the interstellar medium can be much higher than predicted by previous work.

The structure and characteristic scales of the H I gas in galactic disks

The spatial distribution of the H I gas in galactic disks holds important clues about the physical processes that shape the structure and dynamics of the interstellar medium (ISM). The structure of the ISM could be affected by a variety of perturbations internal and external to the galaxy, and the unique signature of each of these perturbations could be visible in the structure of interstellar gas. In this work, we quantify the structure of the H I gas in a sample of 33 nearby galaxies taken from the HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) using the delta-variance (Δ-variance) spectrum. The THINGS galaxies display a large diversity in their spectra, but there are a number of recurrent features. In many galaxies, we observe a bump in the spectrum on scales of a few to several hundred parsec. We find the characteristic scales associated with the bump to be correlated with the galactic star formation rate (SFR) for values of the SFR ≳0.5 M⊙ yr−1 and also with the median size of the H I shells detected in these galaxies. We interpret this characteristic scale as being associated with the effects of feedback from supernova explosions. On larger scales, we observe in most galaxies two self-similar, scale-free regimes. The first regime, on intermediate scales (≲0.5R25), is shallow, and the power law that describes this regime has an exponent in the range [0.1–1] with a mean value of 0.55 that is compatible with the density field that is generated by supersonic turbulence in the cold phase of the H I gas. The second power law is steeper, with a range of exponents between 0.5 and 2.3 and a mean value of ≈1.5. These values are associated with subsonic to transonic turbulence, which is characteristic of the warm phase of the H I gas. The spatial scale at which the transition between the two self-similar regimes occurs is found to be ≈0.5R25, which is very similar to the size of the molecular disk in the THINGS galaxies. Overall, our results suggest that on scales ≲0.5R25, the structure of the ISM is affected by the effects of supernova explosions. On larger scales (≳0.5R25), stellar feedback has no significant impact, and the structure of the ISM is determined by large-scale processes that govern the dynamics of the gas in the warm neutral medium, such as the flaring of the H I disk at large galactocentric radii and the effects of ram pressure stripping.

Resolving the Formation of Cold H i Filaments in the High-velocity Cloud Complex C

Abstract The physical properties of galactic halo gas have a profound impact on the life cycle of galaxies. As gas travels through a galactic halo, it undergoes dynamical interactions, influencing its impact on star formation and the chemical evolution of the galactic disk. In the Milky Way halo, considerable effort has been made to understand the spatial distribution of neutral gas, which is mostly in the form of large complexes. However, the internal variations of their physical properties remain unclear. In this study, we investigate the thermal and dynamical state of the neutral gas in high-velocity clouds. High-resolution observations (1.′1) of the 21 cm line emission in the EN field of the DHIGLS H i survey are used to analyze the physical properties of the bright concentration CIB located at an edge of a large HVC complex, complex C. We use the Gaussian decomposition code ROHSA to model the multiphase content of CIB and perform a power spectrum analysis to analyze its multiscale structure. The physical properties of some 200 structures extracted using dendrograms are examined. Each phase exhibits different thermal and turbulent properties. We identify two distinct regions, one of which has a prominent protrusion extending from the edge of complex C that exhibits an ongoing phase transition from warm diffuse gas to cold dense gas and filaments. The scale at which the warm gas becomes unstable and undergoes thermal condensation is about 15 pc, corresponding to a cooling time of about 1.5 Myr. Our study characterizes the statistical properties of turbulence in the fluid of an HVC for the first time. We find that a transition from subsonic to transonic turbulence is associated with the thermal condensation, going from large to small scales. A large-scale perspective of complex C suggests that hydrodynamic instabilities are involved in creating the structured concentration CIB and the phase transition therein. However, the details of the dynamical and thermal processes remain unclear and will require further investigation through both observations and numerical simulations.

Implicit high-order gas kinetic scheme for turbulence simulation

In recent years, coupled with traditional turbulence models, the second-order gas-kinetic scheme (GKS) has been used in the turbulent flow simulations. At the same time, high-order GKS has been developed, such as the two-stage fourth-order scheme (S2O4) GKS, and used for laminar flow calculations. In this paper, targeting on the high-Reynolds number engineering turbulent flows, an implicit high-order GKS with Lower-Upper Symmetric Gauss-Seidel (LU-SGS) technique is developed under the S2O4 framework. Based on Vreman-type LES model and k−ω SST model, a turbulent relaxation time is obtained and used for the determination of an enlarged particle collision time for the high-Reynolds number turbulent flow simulation. Numerical experiments include incompressible decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence, incompressible high-Reynolds number flat plate turbulent flow, incompressible turbulence around NACA0012 airfoil, transonic turbulence around RAE2822 airfoil, and transonic high-Reynolds number ARA M100 wing-body simulation. Comparisons among the numerical solutions from current implicit high-order GKS, the explicit high-order GKS, the implicit second-order GKS, and experimental measurements have been conducted. Through these examples, it is concluded that the high-order GKS has high accuracy in space and time, especially for smooth flows, and obtains more accurate turbulent flow fields on coarse grids than the second-order GKS. In addition, significant acceleration on computational efficiency, as well as super robustness in simulating complex flows are confirmed from the current implicit high-order GKS. This study also indicates that turbulence modeling plays a dominant role in capturing physical solution, such as in the transonic three-dimensional complex RANS simulation, which is beyond the numerical discretization error, such as the differences between the second and fourth-order GKS.

Mean flow compressibility effects in transonic turbulence modeling

The mean flow compressibility effects greatly influence the behavior of turbulent flows, as long as the flow is compressible. The fact is even though Favre average has taken into account the variation of the density, less accurate CFD results are always obtained when the flow is compressible. Thus, many compressibility corrections are made for high Mach number flows. As for the transonic turbulence flow, the mean flow compressibility effects are not mentioned. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the mean flow compressibility effects are not ignorable in transonic flows on some flow features. The mean flow compressibility effects are taken into account by introducing a characteristic turbulence length scale. The key is a new definition of vorticity by the curl of momentum. A compressible von Kármán length scale is introduced to obtain a new turbulence model CKDO (Compressible Kinetic Dependent Only) for complex compressible flows on the basis of the KDO. The only two empirical coefficients in the KDO model are not changed, which were calibrated by a slice of the incompressible flat plate boundary layer flow. Numerical simulations of transonic flows around RAE2822 airfoil, axisymmetric bump pipe and ONERA-M6 wing show that compressibility is non-negligible, and the new length scale definition can improve the prediction accuracies of aerodynamic features, such as the onset locations of shock waves, skin friction and pressure coefficients.

Detection of Dust Condensations in the Orion Bar Photon-dominated Region

Abstract We report Submillimeter Array dust continuum and molecular spectral line observations toward the Orion Bar photon-dominated region (PDR). The 1.2 mm continuum map reveals, for the first time, a total of nine compact (r < 0.01 pc) dust condensations located within a distance of ∼0.03 pc from the dissociation front of the PDR. Part of the dust condensations are also seen in spectral line emissions of CS (5–4) and H2CS (71,7–61,6), though the CS map also reveals dense gas further away from the dissociation front. We also detect compact emissions in H2CS (60,6–50,5), (62,4–52,3) and C34S, C33S (4–3) toward bright dust condensations. The line ratio of H2CS (60,6–50,5)/(62,4–52,3) suggests a temperature of 73 ± 58 K. A nonthermal velocity dispersion of ∼0.25–0.50 km s−1 is derived from the high spectral resolution C34S data and indicates a subsonic to transonic turbulence in the condensations. The masses of the condensations are estimated from the dust emission, and range from 0.03 to 0.3 M ⊙, all significantly lower than any critical mass that is required for self-gravity to play a crucial role. Thus the condensations are not gravitationally bound, and could not collapse to form stars. In cooperating with recent high-resolution observations of the compressed surface layers of the molecular cloud in the Bar, we speculate that the condensations are produced as a high-pressure wave induced by the expansion of the H ii region compresses and enters the cloud. A velocity gradient along a direction perpendicular to the major axis of the Bar is seen in H2CS (71,7–61,6), and is consistent with the scenario that the molecular gas behind the dissociation front is being compressed.

THE LOGNORMAL PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION OF THE PERSEUS MOLECULAR CLOUD: A COMPARISON OF HI AND DUST

The shape of the probability distribution function (PDF) of molecular clouds is an important ingredient for modern theories of star formation and turbulence. Recently, several studies have pointed out observational difficulties with constraining the low column density (i.e. Av <1) PDF using dust tracers. In order to constrain the shape and properties of the low column density probability distribution function, we investigate the PDF of multiphase atomic gas in the Perseus molecular cloud using opacity-corrected GALFA-HI data and compare the PDF shape and properties to the total gas PDF and the N(H2) PDF. We find that the shape of the PDF in the atomic medium of Perseus is well described by a lognormal distribution, and not by a power-law or bimodal distribution. The peak of the atomic gas PDF in and around Perseus lies at the HI-H2 transition column density for this cloud, past which the N(H2) PDF takes on a powerlaw form. We find that the PDF of the atomic gas is narrow and at column densities larger than the HI-H2 transition the HI rapidly depletes, suggesting that the HI PDF may be used to find the HI-H2 transition column density. We also calculate the sonic Mach number of the atomic gas by using HI absorption line data, which yields a median value of Ms=4.0 for the CNM, while the HI emission PDF, which traces both the WNM and CNM, has a width more consistent with transonic turbulence.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF L1689-SMM16, AN OSCILLATING PRESTELLAR CORE IN OPHIUCHUS

We present single-dish observations of the L1689-SMM16 core in the Ophiuchus molecular cloud in NH3 (1, 1) and (2, 2) emission using the Green Bank Telescope, in N2H+ (1-0) emission using the Nobeyama Radio Observatory, and in NH2D (), HCN (1-0), HNC (1-0), H13CO+ (1-0), and HCO+ (1-0) emission using the Mopra telescope. The morphologies of the integrated NH3 (1, 1) and N2H+ (1-0) emission well match that of 250 μm continuum emission. Line widths of NH3 (1, 1) and N2H+ (1-0) show the presence of transonic turbulence across the core. Jeans and virial analyses made using updated measurements of core mass and size confirm that L1689-SMM16 is prestellar, i.e., gravitationally bound. It also has accumulated more mass compared to its corresponding Jeans mass in the absence of magnetic fields and therefore is a super-Jeans core. The high levels of X(NH3)/X(N2H+) and deuterium fractionation reinforce the idea that the core has not yet formed a protostar. Comparing the physical parameters of the core with those of a Bonnor-Ebert sphere reveals the advanced evolutionary stage of L1689-SMM16 and shows that it might be unstable to collapse. We do not detect any evidence of infall motions toward the core. Instead, red asymmetry in the line profiles of HCN (1-0) and HNC (1-0) indicates the expansion of the outer layers of the core at a speed of ~0.2 km s–1 to 0.3 km s–1. For a gravitationally bound core, expansion in the outer layers might indicate that the core is experiencing oscillations.

MAGNETIC FIELD AMPLIFICATION AND EVOLUTION IN TURBULENT COLLISIONLESS MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS: AN APPLICATION TO THE INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM

The amplification and maintenance of the observed magnetic fields in the ICM are usually attributed to the turbulent dynamo action. This is generally derived employing a collisional MHD model. However, in the ICM the ion mean free path between collisions is of the order of the dynamical scales, thus requiring a collisionless MHD description. Unlike collisional MHD simulations, our study uses an anisotropic plasma pressure with respect to the direction of the local magnetic field, which brings the plasma within a parameter space where collisionless instabilities should take place. Within the adopted model these instabilities are contained at bay through the relaxation term of the pressure anisotropy which simulates the feedback of the mirror and firehose instabilities. This relaxation acts to get the plasma distribution function consistent with the empirical studies of collisionless plasmas. Our 3D numerical simulations of forced transonic turbulence motivated by modeling of the turbulent ICM are performed for different initial values of the magnetic field intensity, and different relaxation rates of the pressure anisotropy. We found that in the high beta plasma regime corresponding to the ICM conditions, a fast anisotropy relaxation rate gives results which are similar to the collisional-MHD model as far as the statistical properties of the turbulence are concerned. Also, the amplification of seed magnetic fields due to the turbulent dynamo action is similar to the collisional-MHD model. Our simulations that do not employ the anisotropy relaxation deviate significantly from the collisional-MHD results, and show more power at the small-scale fluctuations of both density and velocity representing the results of the instabilities. For these simulations the large scale fluctuations in the magnetic field are mostly suppressed and the turbulent dynamo fails in amplifying seed magnetic fields.

Prospects of turbulence studies in high-energy density laser-generated plasma: Numerical investigations in two dimensions

We investigate the possibility of generating and studying turbulence in plasma by means of high-energy density laser-driven experiments. Our focus is to create supersonic, self-magnetized turbulence with characteristics that resemble those found in the interstellar medium (ISM).We consider a target made of a spherical core surrounded by a shell made of denser material. The shell is irradiated by a sequence of laser pulses sending inward-propagating shocks that convert the inner core into plasma and create turbulence. In the context of the evolution of the ISM, the shocks play the role of supernova remnant shocks and the core represents the ionized interstellar medium. We consider the effects of both pre-existing and self-generating magnetic fields and study the evolution of the system by means of two-dimensional numerical simulations.We find that the evolution of the turbulent core is generally, subsonic with rms-Mach number Mrms ≈ 0.2. We observe an isotropic, turbulent velocity field with an inertial range power spectra of P(k) ∝ k−2.3. We account for the effects of self-magnetization and find that the resulting magnetic field has characteristic strength ≈3 × 104 G. The corresponding plasma β is about 1 × 104–1 × 105, indicating that the magnetic field does not play an important role in the dynamical evolution of the system.The natural extension of this work is to study the system evolution in three-dimensions, with various laser drive configurations, and targets with shells and cores of different masses. The latter modification may help to increase the turbulent intensity and possibly create transonic turbulence. One of the key challenges is to obtain transonic turbulent conditions in a quasi-steady state environment.

The supernova-regulated ISM – II. The mean magnetic field

Abstract The origin and structure of the magnetic fields in the interstellar medium of spiral galaxies is investigated with 3D, non-ideal, compressible magnetohydrodynamic simulations, including stratification in the galactic gravity field, differential rotation and radiative cooling. A rectangular domain, 1 × 1 × 2 kpc3 in size, spans both sides of the galactic mid-plane. Supernova explosions drive transonic turbulence. A seed magnetic field grows exponentially to reach a statistically steady state within 1.6 Gyr. Following Germano (1992), we use volume averaging with a Gaussian kernel to separate magnetic field into a mean field and fluctuations. Such averaging does not satisfy all Reynolds rules, yet allows a formulation of mean-field theory. The mean field thus obtained varies in both space and time. Growth rates differ for the mean-field and fluctuating field and there is clear scale separation between the two elements, whose integral scales are about 0.7 and 0.3 kpc, respectively.

Numerical dissipation and the bottleneck effect in simulations of compressible isotropic turbulence

The piece-wise parabolic method (PPM) is applied to simulations of forced isotropic turbulence with Mach numbers ∼0.1 … 1. The equation of state is dominated by the Fermi pressure of an electron-degenerate fluid. The dissipation in these simulations is of purely numerical origin. For the dimensionless mean rate of dissipation, we find values in agreement with known results from mostly incompressible turbulence simulations. The calculation of a Smagorinsky length corresponding to the rate of numerical dissipation supports the notion of the PPM supplying an implicit subgrid scale model. In the turbulence energy spectra of various flow realisations, we find the so-called bottleneck phenomenon, i.e., a flattening of the spectrum function near the wave number of maximal dissipation. The shape of the bottleneck peak in the compensated spectrum functions is comparable to what is found in turbulence simulations with hyperviscosity. Although the bottleneck effect reduces the range of nearly inertial length scales considerably, we are able to estimate the value of the Kolmogorov constant. For steady turbulence with a balance between energy injection and dissipation, it appears that C ≈ 1.7. However, a smaller value is found in the case of transonic turbulence with a large fraction of compressive components in the driving force. Moreover, we discuss length scales related to the dissipation, in particular, an effective numerical length scale Δ eff, which can be regarded as the characteristic smoothing length of the implicit filter associated with the PPM.

Filaments in the radio lobes of M87

A total intensity VLA image of the inner lobes of M87 at 6 cm is presented. The map has a resolution of 0.4 arcsec and a dynamic range of about 10,000. Several bright features - loops and filaments - are found within the lobes. These features appear to be overpressure compared to the surrounding gas. Several possible origins for these filaments are considered. It is shown that cooling instabilities cannot account for the features. Resistive instabilities are also unlikely unless in situ particle acceleration is occurring. Transonic turbulence or shocks in the lobes might be the most likely explanation of the features. 72 refs.