Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm42b..03k&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM42B-03
Physics
Plasma Physics
[7509] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Corona, [7524] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Magnetic Fields, [7863] Space Plasma Physics / Turbulence
Scientific paper
It has been suggested that turbulence plays a fundamental role in the heating of solar active regions, with its intermittent behavior being the explanation of impulsive energy release (nanoflares). We know that episodes of turbulence are produced in the final nonlinear stage of the secondary instability of electric current sheets. However, these current sheets must exist prior to the turbulence. Whether turbulence can dynamically produce current sheets that would not otherwise be present is a different and important question. Turbulence occurs freely in the solar wind and in other situations where the magnetic field does not dominate. However, the magnetic field strongly resists being distorted in line-tied, low-beta environments such as active regions. Can turbulence develop naturally in these environments without being driven by an instability? To answer this question, we have performed a time-dependent MHD simulation of a slowly driven system that does not contain current sheets and is stable to applied perturbations. We find no evidence for bursty energy release, steep spatial gradients, or power-law power spectra that are the typical signatures of turbulence. We conclude that the turbulence which occurs in active regions is an important yet secondary process and not the primary cause of heating.
Antiochos Spiro K.
Dahlburg Russell B.
Klimchuk James A.
Nigro Giuseppina
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