Turbulent Relaxation Research Articles

Turbulent relaxation patterns in SOL plasma

Abstract Relaxations of localized over-density in a plane transverse to the magnetic field are numerically investigated under the effect of drift-wave and interchange drives in SOL conditions. Such a controlled departure from thermodynamic equilibrium allows the investigation of fundamental processes at play in cross-field transport. Interchange instabilities generate ballistic outward radial flux with low amplitude zonal flow patterns, whereas drift-wave instabilities result in symmetric radial flux with large amplitude zonal flow patterns. When both instabilities are considered, the combined effects tend to favor drift-waves, leading to a weaker outward flux with larger zonal flow patterns.

Universal relaxation of turbulent binary fluids

Turbulent relaxation is the process of turbulent systems reaching the state of equilibrium, starting upon quenching the turbulence forcing acting on them. Such relaxation in binary fluids is instrumental for both fundamental science understanding and industrial applications, although potential differences in the relaxation of bulk and interface are still to be identified. Using direct numerical simulations of Cahn-Hilliard-Navier-Stokes equations, here we show that the bulk and the interface relax towards different states. However, both the relaxation channels can be accounted for via a universal pathway based on the recently proposed principle of vanishing nonlinear transfers. We find that the bulk of each fluid relaxes differently from the turbulent relaxation of a single hydrodynamic fluid. At the same time, the interface relaxes towards a Helmholtz-like pressure-balanced state. The present methodology can be directly applied to predict the turbulent relaxed states in active binary mixtures as well as other complex fluid systems.

Universal turbulent relaxation of fluids and plasmas by the principle of vanishing nonlinear transfers.

A 70-year-old problem of fluid and plasma relaxation has been revisited. A principal based on vanishing nonlinear transfer is proposed to develop a unified theory of the turbulent relaxation of neutral fluids and plasmas. Unlike previous studies, the proposed principle enables us to find the relaxed states unambiguously without going through any variational principle. The general relaxed states obtained herein are found to support naturally a pressure gradient which is consistent with several numerical studies. Relaxed states are reduced to Beltrami-type aligned states where the pressure gradient is negligibly small. According to the present theory, the relaxed states are attained in order to maximize a fluid entropy S calculated from the principles of statistical mechanics [Carnevale et al., J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 14, 1701 (1981)10.1088/0305-4470/14/7/026]. This method can be extended to find the relaxed states for more complex flows.

Turbulent Relaxation to Equilibrium in a Two-Dimensional Quantum Vortex Gas

We experimentally study emergence of microcanonical equilibrium states in the turbulent relaxation dynamics of a two-dimensional chiral vortex gas. Same-sign vortices are injected into a quasi-two-dimensional disk-shaped atomic Bose-Einstein condensate using a range of mechanical stirring protocols. The resulting long-time vortex distributions are found to be in excellent agreement with the meanfield Poisson-Boltzmann equation for the system describing the microcanonical ensemble at fixed energy $\cal{H}$ and angular momentum $\cal{M}$. The equilibrium states are characterized by the corresponding thermodynamic variables of inverse temperature $\hat{\beta}$ and rotation frequency $\hat{\omega}$. We are able to realize equilibria spanning the full phase diagram of the vortex gas, including on-axis states near zero-temperature, infinite temperature, and negative absolute temperatures. At sufficiently high energies the system exhibits a symmetry-breaking transition, resulting in an off-axis equilibrium phase at negative absolute temperature that no longer shares the symmetry of the container. We introduce a point-vortex model with phenomenological damping and noise that is able to quantitatively reproduce the equilibration dynamics.

Instability and turbulent relaxation in a stochastic magnetic field

An analysis of instability dynamics in a stochastic magnetic field is presented for the tractable case of the resistive interchange. Externally prescribed static magnetic perturbations convert the eigenmode problem to a stochastic differential equation, which is solved by the method of averaging. The dynamics are rendered multi-scale, due to the size disparity between the test mode and magnetic perturbations. Maintaining quasi-neutrality at all orders requires that small-scale convective cell turbulence be driven by disparate scale interaction. The cells in turn produce turbulent mixing of vorticity and pressure, which is calculated by fluctuation-dissipation type analyses, and are relevant to pump-out phenomena. The development of correlation between the ambient magnetic perturbations and the cells is demonstrated, showing that turbulence will ‘lock on’ to ambient stochasticity. Magnetic perturbations are shown to produce a magnetic braking effect on vorticity generation at large scale. Detailed testable predictions are presented. The relations of these findings to the results of available simulations and recent experiments are discussed.

Non-Equilibrium Time-Relaxation Kinetic Model for Compressible Turbulence Modeling

For the first time, the non-equilibrium time-relaxation kinetic model (NTRKM) is proposed for compressible turbulence modeling on unresolved grids. Within the non-equilibrium time-relaxation framework, NTRKM is extended in the form of modified Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook model. Based on the first-order Chapman-Enskog expansion, NTRKM connects with the six-variable macroscopic governing equations. The first five governing equations correspond to the conservative laws in mass, momentum and total energy, while the sixth equation governs the evolution of unresolved turbulence kinetic energy Kutke. The unknowns in NTRKM, including turbulent relaxation time and source term, are determined by essential gradient-type assumption and standard dynamic modeling approach. Current generalized kinetic model on unresolved grids consequently offers a profound mesoscopic understanding for one-equation subgrid-scale turbulence kinetic energy Ksgs model in compressible large eddy simulation. To solve NTRKM accurately and robustly, a non-equilibrium gas-kinetic scheme is developed, which succeeds the well-established gas-kinetic scheme for simulating Navier-Stokes equations. Three-dimensional decaying compressible isotropic turbulence and temporal compressible plane mixing layer on unresolved grids are simulated to evaluate the generalized kinetic model and non-equilibrium gas-kinetic scheme. The performance of key turbulent quantities up to second-order statistics confirms that NTRKM is comparable with the widely-used eddy-viscosity Smagorinsky model (SM) and dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM). Specifically, compared with the DNS solution in temporal compressible plane mixing layer, the performance of NTRKM is much closer with DSM and better than SM. This study provides a workable approach for compressible turbulence modeling on unresolved grids.

Turbulent relaxation after a quench in the Heisenberg model

We predict the emergence of turbulent scaling in the quench dynamics of the two-dimensional Heisenberg model for a wide range of initial conditions and model parameters. In the isotropic Heisenberg model, we find that the spin-spin correlation function exhibits universal scaling consistent with a turbulent energy cascade. When the spin rotational symmetry is broken by an easy-plane exchange anisotropy, we find a dual cascade of energy and an emergent conserved charge associated to transverse magnetization fluctuations. The scaling exponents are estimated analytically and agree with numerical simulations using phase space methods. We also define the range of initial conditions and model parameters (energy, magnetization, and spin number $S$) that lead to a turbulent cascade. The universal character of the cascade, insensitive to microscopic details or initial conditions, suggests that turbulence in spin systems can be broadly realized in cold atom and solid-state experiments.

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.

Decaying compressible turbulence with thermal non-equilibrium

The interaction of decaying turbulence with thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) is studied using direct numerical simulations. The focus is on energy exchanges and decay rates in decaying flows with initial vibrational excitation. A key finding is the identification of different regimes in the interaction and the nondimensional parameter (β) that controls it. The latter accounts for the degree of initial TNE as well as the ratio of timescales of turbulence and vibrational relaxation. For β < 1, TNE is essentially frozen and turbulence is largely unaffected by the decay of vibrational energy. For β > 1, TNE relaxation is relatively fast and produces an increase in translational–rotational energy, which, through changes in transport coefficients, leads to a temporary increase in dissipation leading to faster turbulence decay rates. Theoretical arguments are put forth to determine the asymptotic limits of this effect. TNE relaxation is also affected by turbulent fluctuations in unexpected ways. For example, although initial conditions are always vibrationally hot, the flow may undergo vibrationally cold transients, which are explained through simple models. The results presented here help explain disagreement between previous experimental and numerical data.

Turbulent Helicity in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

We consider the assumption postulated by Deusebio and Lindborg (J Fluid Mech 755:654–671, 2014) that the helicity injected into the Ekman boundary layer undergoes a cascade, with preservation of its sign (right- or alternatively left-handedness), which is a signature of the system rotation, from large to small scales, down to the Kolmogorov microscale of turbulence. At the same time, recent direct field measurements of turbulent helicity in the steppe region of southern Russia near Tsimlyansk Reservoir show the opposite sign of helicity from that expected. A possible explanation for this phenomenon may be the joint action of different scales of atmospheric flows within the boundary layer, including the sea-breeze circulation over the test site. In this regard, we consider a superposition of the classic Ekman spiral solution and Prandtl’s jet-like slope-wind profile to describe the planetary boundary-layer wind structure. The latter solution mimics a hydrostatic shallow breeze circulation over a non-uniformly heated surface. A 180°-wide sector on the hodograph plane exists, within which the relative orientation of the Ekman and Prandtl velocity profiles favours the left rotation with height of the resulting wind velocity vector in the lowermost part of the boundary layer. This explains the negative (left-handed) helicity cascade toward small-scale turbulent motions, which agrees with the direct field measurements of turbulent helicity in Tsimlyansk. A simple turbulent relaxation model is proposed that explains the measured positive values of the relatively minor contribution to turbulent helicity from the vertical components of velocity and vorticity.

The impact of streamwise convex curvature on the supersonic turbulent boundary layer

With an inflow Mach number of 2.95, the isolated impacts of the convex curvature and the streamwise favorable pressure gradient on the supersonic turbulent boundary layer are experimentally investigated by employing particle image velocimetry. An experiment on the convex turbulent boundary layer with a zero streamwise pressure gradient is carefully arranged to investigate the impact of the streamline curvature. The results are compared with the favorable-pressure-gradient case (with pressure gradient parameter β = −0.60). For both of the zero-pressure-gradient and the favorable-pressure-gradient convex boundary layers, the log law is found to be well preserved in the streamwise velocity profile with inner scaling. The streamline convex curvature and the streamwise favorable pressure gradient are found to have similar impacts on the distribution of mean streamwise velocity. They both weaken the boundary layer’s wake strength, as well as the principal strain rate in the near wall region. While both of the convex streamline curvature and the favorable pressure gradient are observed to dampen the streamwise turbulent fluctuation, their effects on the normal fluctuation are opposite. The convex curvature reinforces the normal fluctuation, and its strengthening effect is much stronger than the relaxation effect of the favorable pressure gradient. Retrograde vortices are notably weakened by the favorable pressure gradient, which contributes to the relaxation of turbulence. The impacts of the streamline convex curvature and the streamwise favorable pressure gradient are more notable in the outer layer, while in the near wall region their contributions are weakened.

Turbulent Magnetic Relaxation in Pulsar Wind Nebulae

Abstract We present a model for magnetic energy dissipation in a pulsar wind nebula. A better understanding of this process is required to assess the likelihood that certain astrophysical transients may be powered by the spin-down of a “millisecond magnetar.” Examples include superluminous supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, and anticipated electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational wave detections of binary neutron star coalescence. Our model leverages recent progress in the theory of turbulent magnetic relaxation to specify a dissipative closure of the stationary magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wind equations, yielding predictions of the magnetic energy dissipation rate throughout the nebula. Synchrotron losses are self-consistently treated. To demonstrate the model’s efficacy, we show that it can reproduce many features of the Crab Nebula, including its expansion speed, radiative efficiency, peak photon energy, and mean magnetic field strength. Unlike ideal MHD models of the Crab (which lead to the so-called σ-problem), our model accounts for the transition from ultra to weakly magnetized plasma flow and for the associated heating of relativistic electrons. We discuss how the predicted heating rates may be utilized to improve upon models of particle transport and acceleration in pulsar wind nebulae. We also discuss implications for the Crab Nebula’s γ-ray flares, and point out potential modifications to models of astrophysical transients invoking the spin-down of a millisecond magnetar.

Spectral analysis of forced turbulence in a non-neutral plasma

The paper investigates the dynamics of magnetized non-neutral (electron) plasmas subjected to external electric field perturbations. A two-dimensional (2-D) particle-in-cell code is effectively exploited to model this system with a special attention to the role that non-axisymmetric, multipolar radio frequency (RF) drives applied to the cylindrical (circular) boundary play on the insurgence of azimuthal instabilities and the subsequent formation of coherent structures preventing the relaxation to a fully developed turbulent state, when the RF fields are chosen in the frequency range of the low-order fluid modes themselves. The isomorphism of such system with a 2-D inviscid incompressible fluid offers an insight into the details of forced 2-D fluid turbulence. The choice of different initial density (i.e. fluid vorticity) distributions allows for a selection of conditions where different levels of turbulence and intermittency are expected and a range of final states is achieved. Integral and spectral quantities of interest are computed along the flow using a multiresolution analysis based on a wavelet decomposition of both enstrophy and energy 2-D maps. The analysis of a variety of cases shows that the qualitative features of turbulent relaxation are similar in conditions of both free and forced evolution; at the same time, fine details of the flow beyond the self-similarity turbulence properties are highlighted in particular in the formation of structures and their timing, where the influence of the initial conditions and the effect of the external forcing can be distinguished.

Investigation of the interaction between competing types of nondiffusive transport in drift wave turbulence

Radial transport in turbulence dominated tokamak plasmas has been observed to deviate from classical diffusion in certain regimes relevant for magnetic confinement fusion. These situations at least include near-marginal turbulence, where radial transport becomes superdiffusive and mediated by elongated radial structures (or avalanches) and transport across radially sheared poloidal flows, where radial subdiffusion often ensues. In this paper, the interaction between very different physical ingredients responsible for these two types of nondiffusive dynamics (namely, turbulent profile relaxation close to a local threshold and the interaction with radially sheared zonal flows) is studied in detail in the context of a simple two-dimensional electrostatic plasma fluid turbulence model based on the dissipative trapped electron mode. It is shown that, depending on the relative relevance of each of these ingredients, which can be tuned in various ways, a variety of non-diffusive radial transport behaviors can be found in the system. The results also illustrate the fact that the classical diffusion paradigm is often insufficient to describe turbulent transport in systems with self-generated flows and turbulent profile relaxations.

Observable Signatures of Energy Release in Braided Coronal Loops

Abstract We examine the turbulent relaxation of solar coronal loops containing non-trivial field line braiding. Such field line tangling in the corona has long been postulated in the context of coronal heating models. We focus on the observational signatures of energy release in such braided magnetic structures using MHD simulations and forward modeling tools. The aim is to answer the following question: if energy release occurs in a coronal loop containing braided magnetic flux, should we expect a clearly observable signature in emissions? We demonstrate that the presence of braided magnetic field lines does not guarantee a braided appearance to the observed intensities. Observed intensities may—but need not necessarily—reveal the underlying braided nature of the magnetic field, depending on the degree and pattern of the field line tangling within the loop. However, in all cases considered, the evolution of the braided loop is accompanied by localized heating regions as the loop relaxes. Factors that may influence the observational signatures are discussed. Recent high-resolution observations from Hi-C have claimed the first direct evidence of braided magnetic fields in the corona. Here we show that both the Hi-C data and some of our simulations give the appearance of braiding at a range of scales.

Turbulent fluctuations during pellet injection into a dipole confined plasma torus

We report measurements of the turbulent evolution of the plasma density profile following the fast injection of lithium pellets into the Levitated Dipole Experiment (LDX) [Boxer et al., Nat. Phys. 6, 207 (2010)]. As the pellet passes through the plasma, it provides a significant internal particle source and allows investigation of density profile evolution, turbulent relaxation, and turbulent fluctuations. The total electron number within the dipole plasma torus increases by more than a factor of three, and the central density increases by more than a factor of five. During these large changes in density, the shape of the density profile is nearly “stationary” such that the gradient of the particle number within tubes of equal magnetic flux vanishes. In comparison to the usual case, when the particle source is neutral gas at the plasma edge, the internal source from the pellet causes the toroidal phase velocity of the fluctuations to reverse and changes the average particle flux at the plasma edge. An edge particle source creates an inward turbulent pinch, but an internal particle source increases the outward turbulent particle flux. Statistical properties of the turbulence are measured by multiple microwave interferometers and by an array of probes at the edge. The spatial structures of the largest amplitude modes have long radial and toroidal wavelengths. Estimates of the local and toroidally averaged turbulent particle flux show intermittency and a non-Gaussian probability distribution function. The measured fluctuations, both before and during pellet injection, have frequency and wavenumber dispersion consistent with theoretical expectations for interchange and entropy modes excited within a dipole plasma torus having warm electrons and cool ions.

Structures and turbulent relaxation in non-neutral plasmas

The transverse dynamics of a magnetized pure electron plasma confined in a Penning–Malmberg trap is analogous to that of a two-dimensional (2D) ideal fluid. The dynamics of a system in a regime of external forcing due to the application of time-dependent potentials on different azimuthal sectors of the confining circular wall is studied numerically by means of 2D particle-in-cell simulations. The evolution of turbulence starting from an annular initial density distribution is investigated for different kinds and parameters of forcing by means of wavelet-based multiresolution analysis. From an experimental point of view, the analyzed forcing technique is useful to excite or damp different diocotron perturbations and therefore for the control and manipulation of plasma evolution. Nonetheless, the numerical results indicate that even in a weak forcing regime the system evolution is sensitive to small initial density fluctuations.

Plasma heating via adiabatic magnetic compression-expansion cycle

Heating of collisionless plasmas in closed adiabatic magnetic cycle comprising of a quasi static compression followed by a non quasi static constrained expansion against a constant external pressure is proposed. Thermodynamic constraints are derived to show that the plasma always gains heat in cycles having at least one non quasi static process. The turbulent relaxation of the plasma to the equilibrium state at the end of the non quasi static expansion is discussed and verified via 1D Particle in Cell (PIC) simulations. Applications of this scheme to heating plasmas in open configurations (mirror machines) and closed configurations (tokamak, reverse field pinche) are discussed.

Braided magnetic fields: equilibria, relaxation and heating

We examine the dynamics of magnetic flux tubes containing non-trivial field line braiding (or linkage), using mathematical and computational modelling, in the context of testable predictions for the laboratory and their significance for solar coronal heating. We investigate the existence of braided force-free equilibria, and demonstrate that for a field anchored at perfectly-conducting plates, these equilibria exist and contain current sheets whose thickness scales inversely with the braid complexity—as measured for example by the topological entropy. By contrast, for a periodic domain braided exact equilibria typically do not exist, while approximate equilibria contain thin current sheets. In the presence of resistivity, reconnection is triggered at the current sheets and a turbulent relaxation ensues. We finish by discussing the properties of the turbulent relaxation and the existence of constraints that may mean that the final state is not the linear force-free field predicted by Taylor’s hypothesis.

Wavelet characterization of 2D turbulence and intermittency in magnetized electron plasmas

A study of the free relaxation of turbulence in a two-dimensional (2D) flow is presented, with a focus on the role of the initial vorticity conditions. Exploiting a well-known analogy with 2D inviscid incompressible fluids, the system investigated here is a magnetized pure electron plasma. The dynamics of this system are simulated by means of a 2D particle-in-cell code, starting from different spiral density (vorticity) distributions.A wavelet multiresolution analysis is adopted, which allows the coherent and incoherent parts of the flow to be separated. Comparison of the turbulent evolution in the different cases is based on the investigation of the time evolution of statistical properties, including the probability distribution functions and structure functions of the vorticity increments. It is also based on an analysis of the enstrophy evolution and its spectrum for the two components.In particular, while the statistical features assess the degree of flow intermittency, spectral analysis allows us not only to estimate the time required to reach a state of fully developed turbulence, but also estimate its dependence on the thickness of the initial spiral density distribution, accurately tracking the dynamics of both the coherent structures and the turbulent background. The results are compared with those relevant to annular initial vorticity distributions (Chen et al 2015 J. Plasma Phys. 81 495810511).