The Current-driven Kink Instability of the Poynting Flux Dominated Jets

Details The Current-driven Kink Instability of the Poynting Flux Dominated Jets The Current-driven Kink Instability of the Poynting Flux Dominated Jets

Nov 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004aps..dppfm1006n&link_type=abstract

American Physical Society, 46th Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, 15-19 November, 2004, Savannah, GA. MEETING I

Physics

Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

The spatial stability properties are one of the most important problem in astrophysical jets dynamics. The non-relativistic 3-D MHD simulations of Poynting flux dominated (PFD) jets are presented. Our study focuses on the propagation of strongly magnetized hypersonic, but sub-Alfvénic flow and on the subsequent development of a current-driven (CD) kink instability. This instability may be responsible for the ``wiggled'' structures seen in sub-parsec scale (VLBI) AGN jets and pulsar jets. Our numerical results show that the PFD jets can develop CD distortions in the trans-Alfvénic flow case. An internal non axisymmetric body mode grows on time scales of order of the Alfvén crossing time and distorts the structure and magnetic configuration of the jet. The kink (m=1) mode of the CD instability, driven by the asymmetrically distribution of hoop-stress, grows faster than other higher order modes (m>1). This could be caused by a sudden loss of kinetic angular momentum to the magnetic field via the reverse slow-mode MHD shock wave. In the jet frame the mode grows locally and expands radially at each axial position where the jet is unstable: the instability, therefore, does not propagate as a wave along the jet length. The wiggled structures saturate and advect with the bulk flow and then, the local plasma flow follows a helical path along the kinked magnetic field backbone. M.N. is supported by a NRC RRA award.

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